Voicing the War Effort: Australian Women's Broadcasts During the Second World War

During the Second World War radio was an official tool of propaganda that played a major role in improving homefront morale, increasing Allied support, and demoralising enemies. Broadcasting was also an important means by which Australian women contributed to the nation as patriotic citizens through their use of language. Some women broadcasters were able to step into new roles due to the increased need for female labour, and others were engaged as higher-level announcers and their sessions put on air for longer hours each day. In these roles they encouraged womens mobilisation, shared their own experiences, and validated their listeners emotions within a framework of complete commitment to the war effort. Some women also gave official overseas shortwave broadcasts to American and Pacific listeners to elicit public support for and faith in the Allied war effort. Through their radio speech Australian women broadcasters publicly demonstrated that they were committed, engaged citizens on air, and this showed that they could contribute to the nation in its time of need.