On The Homefront: Communication

At war's beginning Ipswich had its own radio station and newspaper, but the arrival of television was still two decades into the future.

Radio station 4IP, begun in 1935 by William Johnston upstairs in the Old Flour Mill on Brisbane Street, was well established by the beginning of the war. The station advertised itself as "The Radio Voice of West Moreton". On Wednesday 20 December 1939 the station publicised in the Queensland Times that "Ipswich is the most 'wireless minded' city in Queensland, with 21.29 licences issued by the Postmaster-General for every 100 head of population.

The station immediately began its support of the war effort. A "patriotic stage review" comprising songs, dances, plays and instrumental numbers by "leading Ipswich artists", sponsored by 4IP, raised £14 to support the Ipswich Air Raids Precautions organisation.

The half a dozen experimental and amateur radio stations established in Ipswich during the 1930s did not fare so well, and they seem to have disappeared by the late 1930s.