THE ANZAC BRIDES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 1933, 30 January 1919, Page 1

THE ANZAC BRIDES.

MANY COMING TO SYDNEY. WOMEN’S VIEWS. Sydney, Jan. IG. A considerable party, wives of Australian soldiers who married abroad, has disembarked in Melbourne. Another batch is on its way by sea to Sydney. That many Australian soldiers have taken to themselves English, French, or Belgian wives—and particularly English —is a fact that has given rise to conflicting comments. The numbers have been variously estimated. In the aggregate they will probably equal between 2,500 and 3,000. The arrival, from lime to time, of these “Anzae brides,” as they are called —although their husbands arenot all An/.acs —has given rise to expressions of mixed feelings, for the most part condemnatory, on the part of Australian women. Circumstances have, of course, much to do with the individual view of the “invasion.” An Australian girl who has not been succe»J'ul in Gliding the partner she wants is disinclined to treat the subject too .-eriousiy. The “dapper” is by turns indignant and carelessly Jlippant. Her mother regards the situation more tragically. It is the young lady of frequenth pronounced opinions on most subjects who speaks most vigorously in protest. “It is a shame," declared a lady shop assistant, discussing (lie question yesterday. “I haven’t got a boy coming back, but why can’t these strange women stay at home and marry their own men? They should leave our boys alone. The Government shouldn’t have encouraged these marriages, as it did. The newspapers say that there are 200,000 more men than women in Australia when the war began, and that now there arc 100,000 more women than men. Well, the returning soldiers will put the balance right, and anyhow, there are heaps more women than men in Sydney. I’ve two brothers coming back, and if they brought wives I wouldn’t have anything to do with them. Neither would mum or dad, I’m sure." “As a matter of fact,” interjected a quiet little girl, who had listened to her friend’s eloquence, “the loss isn’t so great as some of us imagine. It is not the best of the boys who are marrying strangers. Some of the best,” and her eyes filled with tears —“will never come back! The others are mostly returning as they went away.” A union secretary pointed out that, after all, Australia is a big country, and there arc probably 1,500,000 more women than men in England alone. “So it’s hard to lmlance them,” she remarked, with broad sympathy. “Most of the warbrides will liud that they won’t starve in Sunny Australia, and, thanks to our organisation, life is better than in the Old Country.”