Such Was Life: The Yanks are Coming

An American football on display in the Museum of the Great Southern is a memento of the time in WW2 when the American submarine fleet was based in Albany. That Fremantle was home to the second largest American submarine base during WW2 (only Pearl Harbour was bigger) is well known. But almost forgotten is the time that the Yanks, worried about Japanese attacks in Darwin and WA, moved the entire submarine fleet and support infrastructure to the southern coastal town of Albany. Like elsewhere in Australia, the American servicemen proved to be very popular. Perhaps too popular. The Albany Advertiser had initially welcomed the US Navy but soon sniffed: “Of course it is for the young women of our town to extend a welcome to the gallant lads of the USA. But those very things that we are fighting for - the sanctity of our homes and the purity and honour of our womenfolk - in the glamour of the mo-ment and newness of the situation are likely to become sullied by the actions of the fickle headed.” But true romance blossomed. Many Western Australian women married US servicemen and, when the war ended, travelled by train across Australia to board ships to join their husbands in America. Bob Kane was an American submariner who met, and married, Wagin woman Betty Denton. They subsequently settled in Albany and their grand-daughters, Donna and Vikki Simpson were founding members of the famous music group The Waifs. Vikki immortalised their grandparents in the Waifs’ popular song “The Bridal Train” and the family provided images for The Yanks Are Comingas well as granting permission for the song to feature in the soundtrack.