Join us in person or online for a seminar with Bessie Mikelsons.
Constructing Togetherness: Letters Between Australians at War
For the many Australian couples who experienced separation during the First and Second World Wars, letter writing was fundamental to their efforts to maintain their relationship. Just as the circumstances of the First World War differed to those of the Second World War, the epistolary experience of the two world wars also differed for Australians. Troop deployments varied in geography and the range of roles undertaken, the proximity and nature of the conflict shaped civilians’ lives and opportunities to contribute, and communication technology affected abilities to stay in touch with loved ones. On cultural levels, changing social norms impacted the ways in which people wrote to one another. Yet there was also much that remained more or less unchanged. In both wars, letters were a tool of communication but also a means through which couples’ relationships could continue to develop and progress despite being far apart. This paper will examine the differences in First World War and Second World War letters between Australian couples as well as exploring the ways in which the role of the letter remained consistent from one war to the next. It was through letters that couples could continue sharing their experiences and navigate together the challenges of war and separation, at least to some extent. Their efforts to do so reveal how correspondence under these conditions played a key role in the emotional survival of Australians separated by war.
23 September 2026, 11am AEST
Burwood: C2.05.01
Waurn Ponds: IC1.108
Zoom: Click here.
Bessie Mikelsons is a graduate researcher at Deakin University. Her research, for which she was awarded the 2024 Philip Brown Award, examines the functions and meanings of Australian correspondence during the First and Second World Wars, exploring the epistolary experience of war and separation. Bessie has recently published an article in Australian Historical Studies entitled ‘Bertha Monash’s War: Patriotic Women and the Demands of Emotional Labour in First World War Australia’.
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