Summary

Handwritten employment application from Giuseppe Gonzales to the Melbourne Harbour Trust Commissioners, Market Street, Melbourne, 12 April 1950. The application is for the position of mechanical draughtsman, at the time Giuseppe was employed by Peacock & Smith, Marine Engineers in Flinders Street, Melbourne. It outlines his qualifications and employment history.

Giuseppe had been interned as an Italian enemy alien on arrival in Australia in 1940. Giuseppe met future wife Bobbie on a ship sailing from Italy to Australia in 1940. Giuseppe was arrested upon arrival and interned as an enemy alien until 1946 when he could finally marry Bobbie in Kew in 1946 - who lost her Australian citizenship as a result.

Refer to Narrative record 16616 Giuseppe Gonzales - Italian Internee World War II 1940 - Collections Online: Article for full story.

Physical Description

Handwritten text in blue in on cream paper

Significance

Statement of Historical Significance:
Enemy alien internment during World War II is a significant, often hidden, history, especially in the context of Australian homefront wartime experiences. This collection provides a starting point for exploring this history further, as well as the impact on families of those interned, including Australian citizens without any birth connections to Axis nations.

More Information