Recruits about to be sworn in

Young men being sworn in to the Royal Australian Air Force. Joining the armed forces was not just like getting a job. Men and women were required to swear an oath on the Bible that they would serve loyally. When there were not enough Bibles to go around, as in this picture, they had to share.

 

Photographer unknown, c1939

 

 

Accession number: H98.100/3961

 

From the State Library of Victoria's Pictures collection. Gift of The Age (Melbourne, Vic.), 1976.

 

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The conscription debate