Soldiers and Aliens: Men in the Australian Army’s Employment Companies during World War II

Judges' comments

A retired academic sociologist and folklorist, June Factor tells for the first time in Soldiers and Aliens the story of the ‘friendly aliens’, the 4,000 non-British men who served in the Australian Army in the Second World War. She fruitfully unites the history of the Australian Army in the Second World War with Australia’s social history of migration, telling a story which has largely been omitted from the historiography of Australia in the Second World War. 

Through a deeply researched and engagingly written book, Factor integrates military, social, cultural and migration histories blending personal stories, official evidence and an awareness of the broader context to contribute to the understanding of the effects of the Second World War on Australian society. Soldiers and Aliens is skilfully composed, combining narrative and analysis in a way that makes it a pleasure to read and gives it credibility and depth as a serious work of history. 

Soldiers and Aliens demonstrates that, though a long-established genre, Australian military history has much to reveal about the relationship between war and Australian society. Though not the first title to seek to unite ethnic experience and Australian military history, Soldiers and Aliens is a fine exemplar of the approach, suggesting the fecundity to be found in integrating the two fields.