David Malouf

Well, it wouldn't have been the Americans' idea.

I think it was probably our idea.

We had first of all suggested to the Americans that they should not send black soldiers because we were a white country and we wanted to be saved by whites.

The Americans said they're coming anyway and at some point the government said, well, if they come they can go only to Queensland.

So the city was segregated.

And how did that transform?

What kind of businesses popped up to service?

Oh, all the local shops, you know, went over to serving southern fried chicken and...

you know, soul food, really.

There were barbers that could cut African hair.

Yeah, presumably.

And, you know, the Trocadero, which was the dance hall on the south side, the dance halls on the north side were Cloudland and Palm Grove.

Actually, the Trocadero probably had the best music because it was the black music.

When you had fun,

Family holidays in the 1940s and early 50s, where would you typically go to go to the beach?

Yeah, well, almost everybody in those days went down the bay.

And that meant to Redcliffe, Scarborough, Margate, Woody Point, all of those places.

still water beachside suburbs on Moreton Bay.

Good for kids, you know, utterly safe.

And there were slippery slides at either end of the beaches and there was always a pier.