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knitter, was eighteen year old Audrey Westley in May 1942 when she met twenty-three year old Angelo Robert Capuano, a private with the 32nd Division of the US Army Construction Corps, at a weekly dance held at a convalescent hospital in Strathalbyn, South Australia. Private Capuano was soon called 'Bob’ since Angelo 'was unheard of in Australia’. Two years later, he and Audrey were married in St Mary’s Catholic Cathedral, Sydney.

The first American troops had arrived at Brisbane in December 1941 but it was several months before the 'khaki invasion’ began in earnest. Between 1941 and 1945 up to a million American servicemen were stationed in Australia. Liaisons on the home front developed as soldiers, sailors and marines mingled with civilians when off duty. Audrey was one of between twelve and fifteen thousand Australian women and children who travelled to the United States between 1946 and 1947 as part of 'Operation War Bride’, a US government initiative which reunited Australian war brides with their American partners.

Immigration quotas and lack of maintenance provisions for wives of American servicemen and their children placed many in a difficult situation. Their plight was highlighted in a letter from Jessie Street to Eleanor Roosevelt in June 1942. Many women faced delays of up to eighteen months before gaining passage on a converted liner or troop ship. Audrey began knitting her jumper in 1945 while waiting for a place on a bride ship. She wore it on leaving Australia in April 1946 and on greeting America. From San Francisco Audrey travelled by train to Pittsburgh where she was reunited with her husband. She still lives in Pittsburgh, but returns to Australia from time to time to visit family and friends.

Writers:

Cuthbert, Penny Note: Heritage biography.

Date written:

1995

Last updated:

2011