Nancy Eddy

Today we remember Nancy Eddy who, together with her two young children, was evacuated from Darwin in December 1941. She was given just two hours to pack no more than 25 pounds (11.34 kilograms) of luggage.

Nancy Eddy audio file (MP4 23.86 MB)

Nancy Eddy audio script

75th Anniversary of the End of the Second World War

Audio actuality

“Fellow Citizens, the War is over” — (The Hon J B Chifley, Prime Minister of Australia)

August the 15th marks the 75th Anniversary of the End of the Second World War. Around one million Australians enlisted to serve from a population of just seven million. Many more on the home front rallied to the cause. Australia remembers Nancy Eddy, who, together with her two young children, was evacuated from Darwin in December 1941. She was given just two hours to pack no more than 25 pounds of luggage.

Nancy Eddy

My baby was just going down with dengue fever, and my other child was playing. Quickly, I bathed and fed them, then I grabbed a case. I half filled it with napkins because my baby was sick, then I filled the other half with a change for myself. There was just a tiny space left, and I thought, ‘Oh it’s Christmas time’, so I jammed in two toys. We drove down to the wharf. There were little groups of women and children and their pathetic little bundles of 25 pounds when they started to call our names and we had to board the ship. Years later, we returned to Darwin and we found neither house nor contents. Not a single thing left.

Saturday, August 15 marks the 75th Anniversary of the End of the Second World War. Let’s pay our respects to that amazing generation of Australians.