Due to a change in our speaker’s availability, please note this event has been rescheduled to 22 April. 

Join author and historian Diana Thorp for a discussion about her book, Code of Silence: How Australian Women Helped Win the War.

As World War II climbed to its crescendo in the Pacific, the Australian government called in a new weapon: women. Stepping up in a time of crisis, the recruits embraced a variety of roles. Many swore they would keep their covert roles hidden, even from families. Eighty years later, their intriguing stories are starting to emerge.

Code of Silence is not just an extraordinary war story, but a coming of age tale for the nation and its women. It brings to life a new Anzac, neither male nor battle-bloody. Based on interviews with Australian women who served in the army, navy and air force during World War II, this book tells their stories.

Diana Thorp is a journalist, historian and teacher. She has scaled a pyramid, excavated a Bronze Age palace and been threatended by a deadly war spy. She wrote a thesis on forgotten women that almost included a sealed section, all in pursuit of a good story. Her work appears widely in Australia and beyond, and her feature article on Australian World War II spy Nancy Wake, whose wartime story was then little known, inspired her interest in this covert field.

• Date: 22 April 2026
• Time:  5:30 pm – 6:30 pm AEST
• Website: https://stonnington.events.mylibrary.digital/event?id=214391

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