My PhD research examines the history of marriages between Australian servicemen and Asian war brides in military occupations between 1945 and 1975. My thesis consists of three case studies: the Allied Occupation of Japan, the Malayan Emergency, and the Vietnam War.

My research is primarily concerned with how war bride marriages during occupation were controlled by military directives, defined by the public, and experienced by the couples themselves. I am also interested in the impact that these marriages, which resulted the migration of Asian women to Australia, had on immigration policy within the White Australia era. In order to answer these questions, I am engaging with a wide range of historical sources, such as archival documentation, personal photographs, and oral history accounts. In doing so, I hope to bring attention to the role intercultural marriages had in military occupations in Asia as well as on the Australian home front.

I am working in the Decolonisation and Photography in Southeast Asia Project under the supervision of Associate Professor Susie Protschky and Dr Carolyn Holbrook.

Prior to commencing my candidature at the start of 2022, I completed a Bachelor of Arts (Advanced) and a Bachelor of International Relations at the University of Adelaide. In 2020, I completed my Bachelor of Arts (Honours) at Flinders University.