A new holiday activity at Fort Lytton National Park this Easter is to use drama to portray the critical role women played in the Australian Army during the Second World War.
Ranger for the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS), Daley Donnelly said Carry on Fort Lytton told the fictional story of the confusion experienced when both male and female recruits arrived at Fort Lytton for training in 1944.
“Carry on Fort Lytton pays homage to some of the early Carry On films that took an affectionate look back at the war years,” Mr Donnelly said.
“It is also an exciting way to bring this history into the 21st Century in a fun and engaging experience that kids will remember for a lifetime,” he said.
Mr Donnelly said children who wanted to take part would conduct drills that soldiers and women used to do, including learning how to use a semaphore and going for a march.
“They will learn about the recruitment of women into the Australian Women’s Army Service (AWAS) during World War II and how Fort Lytton was a crucial Australian training base,” he said.
“Recent research has found that Fort Lytton was heavily dependent on the AWAS and there were often more women on base than men.”
Carry On Fort Lytton is the third school holiday program to be launched at Fort Lytton National Park and is to run on 5, 6, 7, 12, 13 and 14 of April.
Tickets cost $20 per child, with no charge for supervising adults, and bookings are essential on (07) 3393 4647.
