Frances Barkman
In 1939 she organised the foundation of a home for refugee children, seeking to make it ‘as much like a home as possible’ for the children, most of whom had left parents behind in Germany. During the war she was also an advocate and fund-raiser for the Free French movement in Australia and organised the collection and shipping of relief and educational materials when the war came to an end. Barkman was an astute user of the media to win support for her causes, fighting to create sympathy for Jewish refugees and, later, to attract publicity to the French cause