Warbrides

Here is a link to a newspaper story on Teruko Morimoto who married Australian serviceman Bill Blair after World War II. Teruko is one of the Japanese women featured in an exhibition at the Australian Maritime Museum , the other is Sadako Morris, whose story features in my book Love & War. Stories of war brides from the Great War to Vietnam.

Australian servicemen arrived in Japan from February 1946 as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces. Around 11,000 Aussies were stationed around Kure, about 40 km from Hiroshima. The forces stayed for 10 years so it is no wonder that around 600 of them found themselves fallin in love with Japanese women, even though fraternisation was forbidden. 

In Love & War   you will find a number of first hand accounts from these women about their love for an Aussie and their migration to Australia - and their experiences.

If you live in Sydney you might be interested in the following talk.

In conjunction with the National Maritime Museum's new exhibit Japanese War Brides, Dr Keiko Tamura, an Australian National University research fellow and author of Michi's Memoirs - the Story of a Japanese War Bride, will give a talk at the museum at 10 am on Thursday, 5 February, 2009.  Teruko Blair and Sadako Morris will be present, and it will be possible to meet these two women whose experiences feature in the museum exhibit.  Bookings essential, on (02) 9298 3655.