Author of war widows’ history visits Denmark

Albany branch members of the War Widows’ Guild of Australia will join Melinda Tognini for the Denmark launch of Many Hearts, One Voice: The story of the War Widows’ Guild in Western Australia at Teahouse Books on Monday 16 November.

Many Hearts, One Voice tells the story of a courageous group of women who made a difference to the lives of Australia’s war widows of yesterday and today. Refusing to accept a life of poverty and social isolation, local women like Ruth Moir, Gloria Doust, Josie Lewis and many more campaigned for better conditions for war widows and their families.

Tognini said the Guild in WA joined the voices of war widows in other states to campaign for increased pensions and improved medical care.

‘At the end of the Second World War, the war widows’ pension was less than half the basic wage and many faced living in poverty. They wrote letters, met with politicians and engaged the media,’ said Tognini.

The author pointed to the need to honour the memory of those women by remembering them and acknowledging their struggles and achievements.

‘We can recognise that, although war widows remained on the home front, they too were impacted by the effects of war,’ said Tognini.

There will be a special morning tea for the war widows in the morning, followed by an evening event which is open to the public. The evening event will be hosted at Teahouse Books, 6 Hollings Road, Denmark at 7 pm on Monday 16 November. To RSVP contact (08) 9848 1801 or teahousebooks@bigpond.com.