Some 20,000 Aussies served for over six years in Hiroshima and environs, doing their part in the demilitarization, democratization and rebuilding of Japan. The British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF), as the Australian contingent was formally known, made its presence felt, and not always for the good. ...However, there is one line which makes me wonder about the author:
Predatory male sexual behavior? Yes, lots of that, often involving rape, assault and sometimes murder. Combing historical records and firsthand accounts, the author paints a sordid picture, explaining why local Japanese referred to the Australians as yabanjin (barbarian). Gerster writes: "Quite apart from the assaults and rapes was the ruinous cultural violence of men misbehaving because they could." More often than not, their antics were fueled by excessive drinking, which helps explain why so many Japanese pedestrians were victims of hti-and-run accidents. ...
Local women were discouraged from taking up with the soldiers by authorities who "warned that if they consorted with the Australians, they would give birth to kangaroos." Many apparently took their chances due to destitute circumstances and the shortage of Japanese men.
The Pacific War left a bitter legacy in Australia as many soldiers had suffered horribly as POWs. Even today, the author asserts, "anti-Japanese sentiment is endemic in the general community."If there is any, I thinks it's fed by the whaling issue more than any other.
But still, the book apparently makes the point that:
It is all the more striking then to discover that many Australians developed respect for and intimacy with the former enemy, overcoming their prejudices in a way that left them out of sync with popular attitudes when they returned home.
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