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As each ship left for Australia, the Director of the Section
personally distributed the latest mail, in some cases running into
hundreds of letters. Mail arriving after the departure of the
evacuees was forwarded to Australia, in the care of the Department
of the Interior.
or teletype.
During the six weeks the evacuees were in the Philippines
As each cable was over 500 cables were received and delivered.
received at the Office it was forwarded instantly by telephone
In most cases it was necessary to make several
telephone calls since nearly all cables contained surnames only.
Confirmation copies were either held until called for or mailed
to the requested address. One hundred and fifty cables were
sent through the department. The bulk of these messages was
handed in by evacuees on shipboard just before sailing time for
Australia.
A card index record was kept with the name and address of
each evacuee. As many details as possible were put on the card;
i.e. surname, Christian name, husband's name, rank, number of
children, etc. This index was in constant demand for redirect-
ing letters and also for use when anyone wanted to get in touch
with evacuees. Telephone, personal calls, and inquiries from
such entities as banks and travel agencies, seeking personal
information regarding the evacuees, were received incessantly. In this connection many letters were answered daily from people
who wanted addresses.