Onthebeach>> Australia was an impoverished nation, stumbling to recover. Unlike European countries from whence migrants came<<

Sorry OTB but you do make some unsustainable statements.
About Europe:
Cities destroyed, infrastructure demolished, millions of soldiers dead…..millions of civilians dead.
They started coming here in numbers around 1948, after they finished rebuilding Europe in the three preceding years.

Don’t you like wogs ON THE BEACH?....sorry mate, I couldn’t help myself.

sonofgloin, "after I read that, I was sure a kids down the coal mine was next"

Why say that? They were tough times and well worth some research and reading. There has never been any acknowledgement of the suffering and stoicism of the Australian civilian population during the wars and beyond. Much of it is women's history that should be discovered. Why not? Maybe because the governments then and since would prefer to keep with the military version.

sonofgloin, "Just wondering why you felt the need to lessen Lexi’s family story?"

That is your view. However it did contain an unnecessary and questionable kicker that I quoted and addressed.

This is a discussion forum.

OTB, just asking.

No problem. But what I said was this,

"Australia was an impoverished nation, stumbling to recover. Unlike European countries from whence migrants came, it did not have the infrastructure nor the investment $ to rebuild. The infrastructure and the investment were not there in the first place. To top it off, Australia had massive loans to repay for the honor of liberating Europe."

Which is very different to the meaning that might be conveyed when you quoted selectively thus,

Onthebeach>> Australia was an impoverished nation, stumbling to recover. Unlike European countries from whence migrants came<<

Dear onthebeach,

Re-write history? No. simply quoting historical facts.
All of the Baltic immigrants such as my parents
who came to Australia as indentured labour, had to enter
into a two year contract with the Australian government
which obliged the migrant to work wherever directed.

The contracts were strictly enforced, even if it meant
that families were split up. These two-year contracts were
the Baltic migrants' first major contribution to Australia.
They helped to solve an acute labour shortage in
Australia, especially in outlying areas. All of these people
despite their qualifications were classified as "labourers."

They relieved the shortage of domestic staff in hospitals,
increased the output of building material, helped to build
Australian homes, saved fruit and sugar crops, maintained
railways, worked in sawmills, brick factories, cement
works, on sewerage projects, water conservation, salt and
brown coal mining, clearing land, quarrying, et cetera.

I could go on and on but if you were to do your research -
you would learn about the contributions made.

Did these people take away jobs from "old" Australians?
This accusation is levelled from time to time. However, it
simply is not true. In the case of the 10,000 Lithuanians
who came to Australia many of the newcomers after completion
of their two-year contracts became self-employed in small
business and in all kinds of trades. For example: Mr
Gediminas Rakauskas founded a chain of construction and plant
hire companies in South Australia and the Northern Territory
between 1958 and 1969. He employed an average of 300 tradesmen,
administrators and labourers, and another 150 sub-contractors
at the peak of his career. In just this case, one
Lithuanian migrant had created and sustained 450 jobs in all.

Likewise, Messrs Antanas Ceicys and Vytautas Genys started
ACT Builders Pty Ltd in Canberra in a small way and with very
little capital. By 1961, they were employing nearly 200 workers.

Therefore as a group, the newly arrived Lithuanian migrants
created additional secondary jobs, with their high levels of
demand for goods and services.

And that is a legacy to be proud of and pass on.

I don't think many "real" Ozzies minded the WW11 influx of migrants Lexi, although some unions heavies tried to promote it. I think there was a real feeling of coming together after surviving the war.

I don't think it was tougher for migrants in Oz, than it was for those who stayed at home.

Yes it was tough for all of us. One problem was the shortages you mention. Dad & I moved to Bathurst in January 1950. Mum stayed in Sydney with relatives, as we lived in a dirt floor tin shed, while we built the first 3 rooms of a house. I was 10, & probably not much use, but I needed to start the school year there. It was fun, cooking on a camp fire.

We built a kitchen/lounge/dining room, a bedroom & a bathroom. The rest had a frame & most was roofed, but no cladding to build the outside walls was available. I slept in this open area for 15 months, & my most valued possession was the heavy felt lined canvas horse rug I used as a top blanket.

I would shake the ice off it every morning, & store it in the bathroom, to make sure it was dry next night. Many of our neighbours were living in tin sheds, [some made of flattened kerosene tins] trying to get hold of enough building materials to build as much house as possible.

Actually it was a great time. None of us felt poor, or deprived, & don't forget, dad had come back, so we were winners.

There was no town water, & you couldn't get water tanks. Dad made sure I got the frogs out of the well water bucket when I filled the 44 gallon drum that supplied everything, no pumps available either. He was worried mum wouldn't drink or bath in the water if she knew about the frogs.

You know, thinking back, it wasn't just great, it was a bl00dy marvelous time. I don't think it could have been better, although a eiderdown would have been nice.