Coming Home

331, 781 Australian soldiers embarked off to war in 1914. Of these 330 000 soldiers, around 61,000 soldiers were killed and of the remaining 270 000 soldiers, over 155,000 had sustained injuries. This number does not include those with mental illnesses.

These statistics show us the impact the War would have had on Australian society, on employment and life in general.

During the war, with the majority of healthy men away fighting, women had charged into the workforce taking the jobs that were usually occupied by men. Women worked as efficiently as men and they only had to be paid half the wage of a man, so when the soldiers returned employers were not always willing to give them jobs, leaving many of the returned soldiers without employment. The government had a plan to reduce returned soldiers unemployment though, this plan was to set aside land for the soldiers to farm and live on. Although this was a very generous idea, farming was difficult for those who had injuries or had been affected by poisonous gasses (which could leave soldiers with severe breathing difficulties), unfortunately this concerned the majority of returned soldiers.

Returning back to family life would not have always been straightforward for the returned soldiers either, changes had been made to the way the family run to compensate for the soldiers absence and it was not always easy for them to fit back in. Wives were off getting jobs to support their family and it was not uncommon for young to not remember their fathers. 

Overall, comi home from war was not easy for soldiers. Life had changed so dramatically while they were away and managed to function that when they came back there was not always space for them. However, despite the differences, all of the soldiers who returned were relieved they made it home.