The Australian Women's Register

Originally a ballerina in Perth, Western Australia, Joan Dowson served throughout World War II as a nurse. She continued her association with the Australian Red Cross throughout her life.

The War Widows’ Guild Of Australia was established in Victoria by the late Mrs Jessie Mary Vasey CBE, OBE. The broad aims of the Guild were to watch over and protect the interests of war widows. Qualification for membership of the Guild was restricted to widows of men who were killed on active service or whose deaths were accepted as being war-caused and were therefore in receipt of a war widow’s pension. Later, widows of interned civilians who received a repatriation war widows’ pension were included, as were widows of allied ex-servicemen.

In June 1946, following the establishment of a War Widows’ Craft Guild in Victoria, a Guild was formed in New South Wales.

The purpose of the Guild was to enable war widows in NSW to live their lives with dignity and support to meet their ongoing and emerging needs.

With the setting-up of the Guild, craft work got under way almost immediately, commencing with sock and glove-making classes. By November, the guild shop was opened in Rowe Street, to sell craft goods made by members and other saleable goods. Although Victoria was planning a guild shop, NSW was first to establish one. The NSW Guild closed its handicraft school in December 1951 and sold the equipment to members, but the shop was to remain open, a good money-spinner for the Guild, until September 1960. [1]

From 1953 to 1988, the Guild in NSW built 13 blocks of units at nine locations. After selling two housing properties, at the time of writing (April 2003) the Guild provides a total of 198 self-care, one-bedroom units of retirement housing in seven Sydney locations.

In 2002 and 2003, President Marie Beach and Chief Executive Officer Patricia Campbell represented The War Widows’ Guild of NSW Inc. on the Women in War Project working group.

The second daughter of Vance and Nettie (née Higgins) Palmer, Helen Palmer spent a year in London after being educated at Presbyterian Ladies’ College (Melbourne) where she was dux in 1934. Returning to Melbourne she won a scholarship to the University of Melbourne and graduated with a BA and DipEd in 1939. She later obtained a B.Ed. (1952). From 1940 until 1942 she was a teacher in Victorian State schools.

Helen Palmer enlisted in the Women’s Australian Auxiliary Air Force on 18 February 1942 and during her service worked in the education division. After the war she worked with the Commonwealth Office of Education (Sydney). In 1948 she returned to Melbourne teaching in private schools.

She made several trips to China and in 1953 published her observations in An Australian Teacher in China. Through the bi-monthly publication Outlook (1957-1970), Helen Palmer provided a forum for vigorous discussion of all issues which were part of a radical critique of Australian politics and society.

The author (with Jessie MacLeod) of First Hundred Years (1954) and After the First Hundred Years (1961), she also authored books on Australian literature, popular culture and history. Helen Palmer was also a prominent poet and balladist and is remembered for ‘The Ballard of 1891,’ that describes the shearers’ strike.

Helen Palmer died on 6 May 1979.

Amirah Inglis was a devoted and active member of the Communist Party in Australia during the politically turbulent Menzies era. Her autobiographical works describe the difficulties and confusion of growing up a migrant in Australia, born of Polish-Jewish parents. She has also written essays, reviews and books on Papua New Guinea, and on the Spanish Civil War.

The hammer & sickle and the washing up: memories of an Australian woman Communist includes descriptions of Amirah’s life in Canberra in the 1960s, and her marriage to academic Ken Inglis.

Dur-e Dara was awarded the Medal of The Order of Australia (OAM) in 1997 for services to the community and promotional and fundraising activities for women’s groups.

Kathleen Deasey was appointed assistant-controller Australian Women’s Army Service (AWAS), Southern Command in November 1941. Prior to joining the AWAS, Deasey was lady superintendent at Melbourne’s Ladies College, Melbourne. Following World War II, Deasey worked with the Department of Immigration, after which she studied at the Sorbonne, Paris. Later Deasey returned to teaching and was a senior tutor in education at the University of Melbourne and then became Principal of St Ann’s College, University of Adelaide.

The Sydney & Metropolitan Ex-Prisoners of War Welfare Association was established in 1999 after the NSW Ex-Prisoner of War (POW) Association and the NSW Ex-Prisoner of War (POW) Ladies Auxiliary were disbanded.

The main objectives of the Association are to:
• affirm and promote loyalty to Her Majesty the Queen and the Commonwealth of Australia.
• protect and promote the interests of Ex-Prisoners of War, their spouses, and widows of Ex-Prisoners of War.
• promote friendship and good fellowship between members by way of meetings, visitations and welfare where necessary.
• collect, raise money and receive donations for the carrying out of these objects or for any charitable purpose or for the benefit directly or indirectly of Ex-Prisoners of War, their spouses, and widows of Ex-Prisoners of War.

Membership of the Association is open to any person who was a member of the New South Wales Ex-Prisoners of War Association Inc, or who would have been eligible to become a member. Members of the Ladies Auxiliary of the New South Wales Ex-Prisoners of War Association Inc, or any person who is a spouse or widow of an Ex-Prisoner of War, can make an application to become a member.

Members have regularly visited patients in their homes, nursing homes and hospitals, especially the Concord Repatriation Hospital (now Concord General Hospital). They have also involved themselves in specific projects such as obtaining special patient chairs for the Concord Repatriation Hospital or furniture for the Rose Garden at the hospital. These acquisitions were made with the help of members’ fundraising activities including selling of poppies, Remembrance Day and Anzac Badges as well as running trade tables, garage sales and garden parties.

The Australian Army Nursing Service, which was actually a reserve, was established on 1 July 1902. The Service was staffed by volunteer civilian nurses who would be available for duty during times of national emergency. Members of the Service served in both the World Wars, staffing medical facilities in Australia and overseas. In 1949 the Service became part of the Australian Regular Army and is now known as the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps (RAANC).

IMPORTANT – Additional information about how to search for your own relative’s records can be found below. Click on details and scroll to the end.

Dawn Jackson was born in Kent, England, the daughter of Major-General R E Jackson CMG, DSO. Educated at St Catherine’s Church of England Girls School, Sydney, she served with the Voluntary Aid Detachment and subsequently with the Australian Army Women’s Medical Service. She was a member of the Australian Imperial Forces from 1941 to 1947 and saw service in the Middle East and New Guinea. Colonel Jackson was associated with the combined training of the Army Women’s Services Training Company and the Army Women’s Services Officers School.

On 2 December 1957 Dawn Jackson was appointed the second Director of the Women’s Royal Australian Army Corps, a post she held until February 1972.

Dawn Jackson was appointed to The Order of the British Empire – Officer (Military) on 11 June 1960 for her services to the Women’s Royal Australian Army Corps.

Colonel Dawn Jackson died on 20 January 1995 in Canberra.

Colonel Dulcie Verinder’s appointment was “Head of Corps”, rather than Director. She graduated from the first WRAAC Officer Cadet Course in December 1952, and served in various capacities with the WRAAC, including five years as Chief Instructor at the WRAAC School.

In 1976 Dulcie Verinder was promoted to Colonel. At that time she was the only female officer to have been promoted to Colonel for appointment outside her Corps.

Colonel Dulcie Elizabeth Verinder was Head of the Women’s Royal Australian Army Corps from 1979 until 1981. On 14 July 1977 she was awarded the National Medal.

On 1 June 1953 May Douglas was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, in recognition for her service as Commissioner of Girl Guides in South Australia. She was also awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia on 26 January 1997 for service to veterans, particularly through the Women’s Royal Australian Army Corps Association, and the Australia Remembers 1945-1995 Celebrations.

The Australian Army Medical Women’s Service (AAMWS) was established in December 1942. At that stage it was decided to distinguish between Voluntary Aid Detachments, whose governing body was the Joint State Council in each State and the Joint Central Council (the Commonwealth authority), and Voluntary Aids who were serving at Military Hospitals on a full-time basis under Army control. [1]

Author Patsy Adam-Smith, herself a member of the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) who joined the AAMWS, states in Australian Women at War:

From that date [December 1942], the Service’s officers and soldiers were subject to military law and to the provisions of the Defence Act, the Army Act and the Rules of Procedure…’The majority of the original recruits for the AAMWS were drawn from the ranks of the Voluntary Aid Detachments, and the experience they already had was of great benefit in their work in military hospitals, both home and overseas.’

In July 1949 the Australian Army Medical Women’s Service became part of the Regular Army. Two years later The Service was disbanded and its duties were incorporated into the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps.

[1] Australian Women at War p. 194 and From Blue to Khaki p. 50

When established, the aim of the Ex-AAMWS (Australian Army Medical Women’s Service) Association of New South Wales Inc. was to maintain friendships formed during World War II as well as assisting members in whatever way possible. This includes the dissemination of information about pensions and benefits through their quarterly publication Pulse. Members also support a range of charities, care for frail members and participate in marches, wreath laying ceremonies and reunions.

The Council of Ex-Servicewomen’s Associations (NSW) was established in Sydney, New South Wales on 20 January 1975, as a vehicle for uniting and representing the many wartime service women who served Australia.

On 26 January 1997, June Stone was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to veterans particularly through the Council of Ex-Servicewomen’s Associations (New South Wales) and the Royal Australian Air Force Association State Council. She had previously been appointed to the Order of the British Empire (Civil) (BEM) on 12 June 1976.

In October 2002 June Stone became a member of the working group for the “Australian Women in War Project.”

Major Joyce Whitworth was Assistant Commander, Eastern Command New South Wales (NSW), Australian Women’s Army Service. She was discharged from the Army Service on 27 June 1946. From 1959 until 1972 she was President of the Australian Women’s Army Service Association (NSW). On the 21st Anniversary of the Australian Women’s Army Service, Joyce Whitworth planted an Australian Gum (Lemon Eucalyptus) in Hyde Park on the western side of the War Memorial, in the presence of Lt-General Sir John Northcott. For services to the community, Joyce Whitworth was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire on 8 June 1968. In 1989 Joyce Whitworth became Patron of the Council of Ex-Servicewomen’s Associations (NSW), a position she held until her death on 19 September 1998.

Clare Stevenson was appointed Director of the Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force on 9 June 1941. Thus she became head of the first Women’s Service formed in Australia for ground-staff duties with an armed force. After the war Stevenson returned to her executive position with Berlei Ltd. Also she became involved with community work. For forty years she was affiliated with the Services Canteens Trust Fund. Clare Stevenson, with a group of friends, helped initiate the Scholarship Trust Fund for Civilian Widows’ Children. She also helped establish the Kings Cross Community Aid Centre as well as the Carer’s Association of New South Wales. On 11 June 1960 Clare Stevenson was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for social welfare services on behalf of ex-servicewomen. On Australia Day 1988 she received the Member of the Order of Australia award for service to the community and to the welfare of veterans.

The Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) was formed in March 1941 after considerable lobbying by women keen to serve and by the Chief of the Air Staff who wanted to release male personnel serving in Australia for service overseas. The WAAAF was the first and largest of the World War II Australian Women’s Services. It was disbanded in December 1947.

At the end of the World War II, surplus funds were divided between the different state Women’s Land Army groups. New South Wales was allocated 500 pounds. A group of ‘girls’ who had worked at the New South Wales Australian Women’s Land Army Headquarters, established a committee. Aileen Lynch former AWLA superintendent in NSW suggested that the money be placed in an account which would be used to establish a club to further the interests of all ex-members of the AWLA in welfare, training and advisory capacity. The club was to have a city base where the girls could continue their wartime friendship and arrange return visits to the country centres where they had worked. [1]

[1] Scott, Jean. Girls with Grit p. 157

In 1924 Florence Wallace (as she was then known) became Australia’s first certificated woman radio telegraphist and in 1924, the only woman member of the Wireless Institute of Australia. She was the founder and director of the Electrical Association for Women, established in 1934. In 1939 she founded and directed the Women’s Emergency Signalling Corps, which later became the starting point for the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS). Rosemary Broomham wrote in the biography of Florence McKenzie in 200 Australian Women that altogether Mrs McKenzie trained over 10,000 servicemen in Morse, visual signalling and international code, and she trained 3000 women, a third of whom went into the Services. On 8 June 1950 Florence McKenzie was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for her work with the Women’s Emergency Signals Corps.

During World War II Beryl Pender was superintendent in Queensland of the Australian Women’s Land Army (AWLA). She was previously with the Queensland Public Service and secretary to the Queensland Trade Commission. Pender was the first married woman to be readmitted to the public service on the outbreak of the war. Following the war she maintained an interest in the ‘land girls’ and helped with the organising of the 30-year reunion and a short history of the organisation.

The Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS) was established in April 1941 when the Royal Australian Navy enrolled 14 women at HMAS Harman, the wireless telegraphy station near Canberra. It was a non-combat branch of the Royal Australian Navy that, like many of its sister services created during the Second World War, alleviated manpower shortages resulting from men being assigned to combat roles.

WRANS performed a variety of duties, including working as telegraphists, coders and clerks; but also as drivers, education officers, mechanics, harbour messengers, cooks and sickberth attendants. They worked for intelligence organisations and as domestic staff at Government House, Yarralumla.

The Service was temporarily disbanded in 1948, but was re-formed in 1951 to help the RAN cope with manpower shortages. By 1959 the organisation was incorporated as a non-combatant (and thus non-seagoing) part of the permanent naval forces.

Women were permitted to serve aboard Australian naval ships in 1983, which meant that WRANS personnel were fully integrated into the Royal Australian Navy. This being the case, 1984 the WRANS was permanently disbanded.

The Women’s Royal Australian Army Corps (WRAAC) was established in April 1951 to help overcome a manpower shortage. During the late 1970s female soldiers began to be integrated into the Army at large and in early 1985, the WRAAC was disbanded. The last Officers’ Cadet School parade (6 December 1984) on the WRAAC School parade ground saw the Officer Cadets and the WRAAC Contingent marching to the strains of “Soldiers of the Queen”. Prior to the formal closing of the gates the WRAAC School flag was ceremoniously lowered and slow marched “off”, to be folded and handed over to the Chief Instructor of the WRAAC School for safe keeping. The gates, which had been repainted for the occasion, were then closed by Major Diane McVicker of the WRAAC School and Mrs Gwen Ellis – sister of Colonel Best.

The WRAAC Prayer was also included in the ceremony:

Almighty God, we ask you to reveal yourself in the fullness of your love to all who reach out to you. Help us to recognise ourselves as your children. Let the day soon dawn when we will allow your love to right every wrong.

Give us the courage and self control to play our part as members of the Women’s Royal Australian Army Corps to help your kingdom come on earth. Lead us in the pathway of life as your own wisdom and love see best: we are anxious only to do your will.

We ask you to give us the grace to rise above temptation, to be patient when tired, to be kind and helpful towards others.

To all members of our Army grant the special blessing that we need. Preserve us from selfishness. Bless every member of our Corps, our families and friends.

We come to you as children to our Father, asking these and all other blessing, in the name of Jesus Christ, Our Lord.
Amen.

Journalist Margaret Curtis-Otter, whose husband (Donald) was serving with the navy, enlisted in the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS) on 18 January 1943 and became second in charge of this service. She was one of the first 16 officers and became an adviser to the Naval Board after the war, as well as Acting Director WRANS, while Sheila McClemans attended the Victory Parade in London in 1946. Margaret Curtis-Otter worked with Naval Control, assisting with the assembling of convoys and arranging for the departure of merchant ships. Later she became one of the founders of the Naval Information Service, when she joined the Naval Office. In 1975 the Naval Historical Society published W.R.A.N.S. : the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service written by Margaret-Curtis Otter. On 2 January 1956 she was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for her services as Commissioner of the Girl Guides Association.

On 28 June 1963 a Steering Foundation Committee was formed to set up an association for members who had served in the WRANS. The Ex-Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service was established on 20 September 1963.

The Association aims to provide social contact and to look after the welfare of members through self-help funding.

Membership of the Association is available to any female who served with the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS) as well as female Navy sailors since 1985.

At the end of the World War II (the last wartime WRAN was discharged in 1948) ex-personnel set about re-establishing their lives in peacetime. For many this involved raising a family. By 1963, almost 20 years after the war’s end, a group of ‘girls’ found that there was still a common bond (from the war years) between them and decided to place an advertisement in the North Shore Times about plans to start an association.

Once established, monthly meetings were held, for many years, at “Johnny’s” Naval House at Grosvenor Street Sydney. The area known as the ground floor “Snake Pit” and the “Wrannery” on the first floor were popular meeting places. An open invitation was extended to ‘country girls’ to attend meetings when they were in Sydney.

During the 1980s Johnny’s Naval House was refurbished and now houses the Sydney Futures Exchange. Meetings were moved to the Gallipoli Club and later the City of Sydney RSL. Meetings are still held here on the second Friday of each month, 3rd Floor, City of Sydney RSL, 565 George St at 1300 hrs. Any Ex-Wran, or serving sailor is most welcome.

The Association produces a magazine (six times per year) The ‘Ditty Box’ through which information is disseminated. Members are advised of the changes in conditions/benefits and entitlements available from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Also listed are social functions and news, as well as changes to the contact registry.

During World War II June Jorgenson (née Jordan) joined the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS) and was a Leading Writer in the Captain’s and Admiral’s office. She served at HMAS Penguin, HMAS Moreton, mainly at HMAS Kuttabul and HMAS Rushcutter. Following the war Jorgenson became an active member of the Australian Legion of Ex-Servicemen and Women. On 26 January 1997 Jorgenson was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to veterans through the Australian Legion of Ex-Servicemen and Women and the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service. On Anzac Day 2003, she was awarded the Commonwealth Centennial Medal.

In October 2002 June Jorgenson became a member of the working group for the “Women in War Project.”