During the 1920s, Lieutenant General Sir John Monash sent troops back to Australia on a first come, first go basis. They longed to rediscover a peaceful lifestyle and to settle down in Australia. The returned soldiers (diggers) came home to a new Australia, attempting to sculpt a position for themselves in society. However the process of reintegrating into Australian society was fairly difficult as not everyone understood the importance of the diggers in the War, or where the diggers belonged in society. After returning from war, many diggers were unsure what to do with their lives, suffering from shell shock, some were restless for months and even years.
The memories of the deaths of the thousands of Australian men traumatised the witnesses to a point where they could not speak of it. The many troops that returned with permanent injuries had constant reminders of their experience and physical reflections of how the war had changed them.
For the majority of the decade after the diggers returned, unemployment was over 5 per cent as women had charged into the workforce taking jobs usually occupied by men. Employers had no desire to fire their female employees as they worked as efficiently as men and were paid half the wage of a man.
Nevertheless, there was a strong sense of national pride in what the Australian troops had accomplished during the war. War memorials were built in honour of service personnel, with 60 being completed before 1918.
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