January 1941 and Doug is off to RAAF Pearce for six weeks training. Just ground crew as poor vision rules Doug out of flying. Meets Doug Kevan from Norseman days. Station parades, gas masks and surviving in the tropics.
Doug is enlisted into the War in April 1940 and in September is sent to 28th Infantry Battalion in Perth. Training, vaccinations, infantry battle practice and a big parade before call-up to the RAAF.
(After being sent from Coolgardie to Norseman to cover for sick leave) The friends I missed out on would have found out by enquiry at the office or through the local paper in which Editor Frank had put a short par in the “Personalities” column. It briefly stated that I
Doug was a lifelong Aussie Rules fan, barracking for West Perth in the WAFL. He played amateur footy in the Band of Hope Association at age 14, the Towns team in Coolgardie, Railway Rovers in Kalgoorlie and Towns at RAAF Geraldton. In later years Doug umpired matches, was a vice patron of the West Perth Football Club a patron of the Osborne Park Sunday League Football. #WAFL #AussieRules @WestPerthFC
Doug tells us about the films and music he watched and listened to in the 1930s and 1940s and also of his favourite actress, Alice Fay, and singer, Bing Crosby.
Theatres of Perth such as Grand Theatre, Prince of Wales Theatre, Ambassadors Theatre, the Royal, Metropole Hotel, Piccadilly Theatre, Majestic Theatre, Plaza Theatre, Capitol Theatre, Embassy Ballroom, Regent Theatre (later the Metro). Suburban theatres such as Amusu Theatre and the Broadway in Vic Park, the State Theatre (later The Astor) in Mt Lawley, Rosemount in North Perth, Wests in Subiaco, New Oxford (now Luna) in Leederville and the Princess in Fremantle. In Norseman it was the Criterion Talkies.