This story, set in World War II, is about a mother’s love for her sons. As you will discover, this love inspired the title of my website and short story blog “Love in a little black diary”.

It is said there is a special bond between a mother and son. 

Elsie Antonia Proposch had three sons. William, my father, was the middle one. I’m sure that Elsie had a special relationship with each of her sons, my dad included. I have proof: Elsie’s “little black diary”. 

Australia at war

It was 3 September 1939, just 21 years after the end of World War I, The Great War or “war to end all wars”. Australia’s Prime Minister, Robert Gordon Menzies, announced to the nation that Australia was (once again) at war with Germany:

Fellow Australians, it is my melancholy duty to inform you officially, that in consequence of a persistence by Germany in her invasion of Poland, Great Britain has declared war upon her and that, as a result, Australia is also at war. No harder task can fall to the lot of a democratic leader than to make such an announcement.”

(Extract from speech made by Prime Minister Menzies on 3 September 1939.)

On 15 September 1939, following the declaration of war, the Australian Government announced it would raise a special volunteer force of 20,000 men, independent of the regular defence force, for service in Australia and abroad. This force was dubbed the Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF).

In a time of war, it must be a mother’s greatest fear that her son, or sons, will be conscripted to serve in the armed forces.

I’m sure this would have been the case for Elsie. Two of her sons, Eric and William, were old enough to go to war.

Sure enough, on 18 June 1940, at the Melbourne Town Hall, Elsie’s second son William signed up to join the 2nd AIF. He enlisted one month later, on 18 July 1940. William was a volunteer. At the time he was working in the city with a firm of accountants, as a clerk and trainee accountant. He was studying economics at The University of Melbourne, at night. William’s decision to join the 2nd AIF was to be a life-changing one for him and his family.

William, Elsie's second son, a focus of a mother's love. Photo source: Proposch Family archives.
  • Save
William, Elsie’s second son, a focus of a mother’s love. Photo source: Proposch Family archives.

From the time William (“Bill”, or as Elsie called him, “Billie”) received his first posting, Elsie followed and recorded his every movement.

Perhaps her earliest records are the notes she made on the reverse side of a photograph William sent her from the Bonegilla (Victoria) army training camp. The photograph shows a Union Jack with signatures of all the men who attended the camp at the time – “W.E. Proposch” is found under the heading “BHQ” (Battalion Head Quarters). Her notes show that Bill returned home on leave before he was posted to Darwin. She wrote: “Billie left here Monday 10th March 1941 for Bonegilla Camp” and “Billie left Bonegilla Saturday 22nd March 1941 for Darwin”.

In the meantime, Bill’s older brother Eric also volunteered for army service. Elsie recorded: “Eric joined AIF 31st July 1941”. Now two of her three sons were involved in Australia’s war effort, and one was about to leave for active service abroad. Elsie’s notes (which are verified by Bill’s army records) record that Bill remained in Darwin until he received his first overseas posting. Bill returned home on leave from 11-27 October 1941, embarking in Sydney on 1 November 1941 for the Middle East.

This must have been a worrying time for Elsie and the family. 

The following photographs of Bill and his brother Eric were taken during Bill’s leave in October 1941. I’m sure Elsie treasured these photographs.

1941 October. Bill prior to leaving for the Middle East.
  • Save
1941 October. Bill prior to leaving for the Middle East. Photo source: Proposch Family archives.
1941 October. Bill and brother Eric, prior to Bill's departure for the Middle East.
  • Save
1941 October. Bill and brother Eric, prior to Bill’s departure for the Middle East. Photo source: Proposch Family archives.

Charles, Elsie’s husband, worked as a commercial artist, at the time producing drawings for advertisements of merchandise sold by Melbourne’s major department stores. In his leisure time, he liked to paint, especially in oils. One painting Charles produced during that period depicts Elsie with one of her sons in army uniform outside a tent pitched in the countryside. Obviously, the family tried to spend quality time together when the “boys” were on leave.

Elsie and son, camping near Melbourne, Victoria: Oil painting by Charles Proposch, 1940s.
  • Save
Elsie and son, camping near Melbourne, Victoria: Oil painting by Charles Proposch, 1940s

Elsie’s “little black diary”: Evidence of a mother’s love

Bill’s mother Elsie was a great correspondent. I have written previously about this in Nana in Melbourne: Joy and a joy-giver. Importantly, I possess Elsie’s 1941-1944 diary, the “little black diary”, passed down to me via my father. It’s a precious item in my collection of family history artifacts.

In her diary Elsie recorded the dates of all letters and parcels she and Charles sent their two sons during their army service, from late 1941 to the end of 1944. She also recorded the dates of all letters and telegrams they received from their sons, and details of official telegrams they received from the army during this time. It is a comprehensive and awe-inspiring record of a mother’s love.

Elsie's 1941-1944 diary.
  • Save
Elsie’s 1941-1944 diary. Photo source: Judith Salecich 2015.

Bill served a total of 1968 days (nearly 5½ years) in the 2nd AIF. He spent 689 days (nearly 2 years) in active service in Australia (Darwin) and overseas. His three overseas postings were:

  • Nine months in the Middle East (Palestine) and Ceylon (Colombo) with the 2/5th Battalion of the 17th Brigade (1 November 1941 – 4 August 1942)
  • Twelve months in New Guinea (Milne Bay, Wau) (8 October 1942 – 22 September 1943)
  • Eight weeks in New Guinea (Aitape) (4 October 1944 – 4 December 1944).

What Elsie’s little black diary reveals

Elsie or Charles, but mostly Elsie, wrote a letter to Bill once a week on the average during his overseas service. Without fail. And Bill replied every other week. Elsie wrote regularly to Bill when he was in Australia, too. The “little black diary” reveals 10 different addresses for Bill during his army service! Most are crossed out, because the addresses kept changing as Bill received a new posting.

Like all mothers, Elsie was proud of her sons’ achievements. On 26 January 1943 Bill wrote to his parents to report he had received his commission a couple of weeks earlier, on 9 January. Elsie recorded this in her diary. At the same time, while based at Wau (New Guinea) Bill was appointed to the role of Education Officer, and seconded to Headquarter (HQ) 17th Brigade. This is the role he fulfilled for the remainder of this first deployment to New Guinea.

Lieutenant William Proposch lecturing troops on geopolitics, Wau aerodrome, New Guinea, August 1943.
  • Save
Lieutenant William Proposch lecturing troops on geopolitics, Wau aerodrome, New Guinea, August 1943. Photograph by courtesy of the Australian War Memorial website. Public domain.

A mother’s love: The pain of separation

What Elsie’s “little black diary” does not reveal is the heartache or yearning she must have felt every time she wrote to her sons or received a letter or telegram from them. The record is almost exclusively a list of numbered items and dates. However, I believe that the act of keeping this record reveals the extent of Elsie’s love for her sons.

Little did Elsie guess when Bill enlisted that, after the war, he would not return to live in Melbourne.

After leaving the army at the end of 1945, Bill settled in Rockhampton (Queensland), 1250 miles (2000 km) away! It’s a good thing we don’t know the future. I think this knowledge would have been too painful for Elsie to bear.

On one occasion when on leave in Brisbane, Bill met Evelyn. They met at a dance in the Brisbane City Hall. Evelyn was serving with the WAAAF (Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force) and was based in Brisbane at the time. She was a “country girl” from Queensland, with a farming background, in contrast to Bill, whose experience was of urban city life, accountancy, books and study. How different is that! Nevertheless, the attraction was immediate and mutual.

Elsie recorded in her diary that Bill and Evelyn announced their engagement on 5 September 1944.

Bill was on leave at the time, visiting Evelyn who had been posted to Rockhampton. Following the engagement, Elsie and Evelyn began to exchange letters, as recorded in Elsie’s “little black diary”.

Bill and Evelyn, at Emu Park (near Rockhampton), September 1944. Photo source: Proposch Family archives.
  • Save
Bill and Evelyn, at Emu Park (near Rockhampton), September 1944. Photo source: Proposch Family archives.

Bill married Evelyn at St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral, Rockhampton, on 26 March 1945. Sadly, none of Bill’s family, including Elsie and Charles, were able to attend. How this must have grieved Elsie. Bill was the first of her three sons to wed. It was still wartime and Bill married in his Army dress uniform.

Bill and Evelyn on their wedding day, March 1945. Photo source: Proposch Family archives.
  • Save
Bill and Evelyn on their wedding day, 26 March 1945. Photo source: Proposch Family archives.

Elsie and Charles met Evelyn when the newlyweds travelled to Melbourne a few months after their wedding.

It was a happy occasion. Evelyn would often recount how her father-in-law escorted them into his studio, strode over to his easel and ceremoniously unveiled a painting of Bill and Evelyn. What a special wedding gift!

Charles had faithfully reproduced their portrait from the 6” x 4” black-and-white photograph the couple sent Elsie and Charles following their engagement. Charles’ painting, oil on canvas, is one I have known all my life. It’s a striking likeness of my father and mother. But there is one significant difference.

Bill and Evelyn Proposch, oil painting by Charles Proposch, 1945.
  • Save
Bill and Evelyn Proposch, oil painting by Charles Proposch, 1945.

Did you spot the difference?

Bill has a cigarette in his left hand in the photograph, but it is omitted in the painting. According to Bill, his father did not approve of his smoking cigarettes, so chose not to include it!

The hardest test of a mother’s love

I don’t think I can understand how much sadness Elsie felt when Bill settled so far away after the war. As far as I am aware, Elsie saw Bill and Evelyn in person three more times in her lifetime: when they visited Melbourne after their marriage in 1945, after the birth of their first child in 1946, and when Charles and Elsie visited Rockhampton in 1954. That’s all.

Charles' and Elsie's visit to Rockhampton.
  • Save
Charles’ and Elsie’s visit to Rockhampton. Photo source: Proposch Family archives.

My father knew about his mother’s wartime diary and, following Elsie’s death, asked his father if he could have it. Charles obliged.

For Bill, Elsie’s “little black diary” was a great prize, testament to his mother’s love, the love Elsie had for him and his brothers.

  • Save
Photo of author
Author

Judith Salecich

Writer, researcher, former secondary and tertiary teacher and public servant, wife, mother, grandmother, child of God, photography enthusiast, lover of life, history, food and all things creative.

Like this story?

Sign up to receive email notification each time I publish a new story on my blog.
SIGN UP
First
Last
Sending

8 thoughts on “A mother’s love (and a little black diary)”

  1. Dear Judy, thanks for sharing this great story.Mother’s love for her children is indeed beyond all measures.

  2. Dear Judy,
    As I read this story I was inspired by the love and dedication of a mother.
    Thanks for sharing it.

  3. Judith it’s such a touching story. The love your Dad showed for his mother during such torrid times. I also have a diary my Dad wrote daily of the battle against the Japanese on the Kokoda Track. He also served in the Middle East, Ceylon, Greece and Papua New Guinea.

  4. What a lovely story Judy The affection that your Grandma had, shows thru in her notes.I see where William spent some time near Atherton. There was a big Army Camp at Rocky Creek a few K out of Tolga on the Mareeba road. When I went to Mt Isa in 69 to work their was a chap there working who had been in New Guinea and had also spent some time in the Camp at Rocky Creek.In the first photo I said oh a smoker when I seen the cig in hand I had noticed that it was not there in second photo. The benefit of keeping a Diary Cheers

    • Dear Maurie. Thanks for your response to my story. I’m so glad you appreciated it. Yes, my Grandmother’s diary is a precious item, revealing so much about her and what was important to her. Yes, I’ve read about the big army camp you describe. The troops trained there prior to going to New Guinea. Many men must have passed through that camp during the second World War. Good on you for noticing the missing cigarette. Well done! Best wishes, Judy.

Comments are closed.

Hi, I'm Judy


ABOUT ME
Short stories from the heart...about life, family and local history, people, places and food.

Let's connect