Nearly 1 million American soldiers passed through Australia between 1942 and 1945 as part of America's strategy to recapture the Philippines and defeat Japan. They encountered a country full of reassuring similarities and strange differences. Here was a land of wide-open spaces, roughly the same size as the US, with a can-do, pioneering spirit, a history of swift development; a land of 'funny animals' and peculiar vowel sounds. But who were the Australians and how were Americans to behave in their midst? They were, of course, 'an outdoors sort of people, breezy and very democratic', with a gargantuan appetite for swearing.
In the inimitable prose of the soldier's pocket book series, this pithy guide captures the essence of Australia and its people, their humour, vocabulary; their attitude to the Yanks, the British, the War and the world with remarkable clarity. It also manages to squeeze in Australian history, politics, economics, sports, and musical tradition, as well as colourful lexicon of national slang, which defines for example Sheila as 'a babe', Like any self-respecting guide to Australian culture, it contains the text of Waltzing Matilda. Unlike cricket, which is a polite game, Australian Rules Football creates a desire on the part of the crowd to tear someone apart, usually the referee.
The Australian has few equals in the world at swearing and the Australians have a genius for using the latter nearly every other word! This extraordinary reprinted document was intended to educate soldiers on a range of topics. The result is a remarkable booklet, often unintentionally humorous and sometimes crudely stereotypical, it reads by turns like a travel guide. It is very much a document of the period. * 54 page small hardback. 250
