Summary

Informal notes written by Margaret Wood in the 1950s to describe the duties of a volunteer Red Cross aide for a talk she gave. Margaret describes the aide as 'invariably female', and the duties as accompanying the special trains from Station Pier Port Melbourne to Bonegilla Reception Centre rail siding. She noted that the aide would carry a heavy suitcase of supplies and magazines for the migrants. These notes are part of a collection of migration material collected by Margaret Wood an officer in the Department of Immigration from 1951-1960.

Margaret first worked in the Department of Alien Assimilation which focused on migrants post arrival, before moving to the Assisted Division which handled the reception of assisted European migrants arriving in Melbourne. Her final position was working for the General Assisted Passage Scheme, assisting migrants from the US, Scandinavia and Switzerland who came individually on general ships as opposed to migrant ships. She recalls her time with the Department with great pleasure. She was a young single woman and had just finished an Arts degree at Melbourne University. When she applied to the Public Service, she was placed with the Department of Immigration, as she spoke German. She left when she married in 1961 as per the policy at that time.

Physical Description

One page of handwritten notes on a sheet of foolscap size paper.

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