This 'staged' photograph from the '1944 Drouin: A Small Town at War' collection of photos taken by Jim Fitzpatrick, shows Arthur Holmes the Chairman of the War Agricultural Committee for Central Gippsland with its headquarters in Drouin.
The photo was one of 88 photos taken by Fitzpatrick, official war photographer with the Australian Information Service, to publicise the effects of World War 2 on the communities back home. Drouin was the 'pin up' town for this Australian Government promotion.
The photo depicts a young woman being enrolled by Mr Holmes in to the Women's Land Army, a wartime organisation formed to "counter manpower deficiencies".
A shortage of "manpower" in farming, food production and agriculture saw the active recruitment of women to organisations such as the Australian Women's Land Army, which was formed in 1942.
Young women from all walks of life responded with many city girls having virtually no experience of life and work on the land. The AWLA was a voluntary organisation with the farmer paying them a minimum of 30 shillings a week (2/3 the minimum wage of a young man) with food and board supplied.
The AWLA did all sorts of rural work: picking fruit, potatoes, asparagus, milking cows, raising poultry, egg production, flax production, raking hay, tobacco and cotton picking. The women worked six long days a week forging friendships and believing they were doing their part in the war effort.
Hear more of the stories of the Women's Land Army on the story of the CWA, Drouin: a small town at war and several of the other stories on www.storiesofdrouin.com.au
Information courtesy Stories of Drouin, a cooperative oral history project between The Committee for Drouin, the Drouin History Group and 3BBR FM to preserve local stories.