Page 20 - Living Gems Thrive | April 2023

Betty remembers it all

Service Number 90723 at your service

Opal by Living Gems centenarian Between 1942 and 1943, Australia “We made sure to
and one of the original founding came under Japanese air raid attack.
members of the Logan Village RSL, The injured were brought back to keep the spirit alive
Lily Elizabeth May Milne-Ward, has Melbourne for the nurses to mend.
seen more than most of us can with dancing.”
imagine. Betty, as she likes to be It wasn’t long before the RAAF saw
called, is as sharp as a tack and a better way to use Betty’s quick pilots on how to do their own repairs
remembers every detail of her time learning skills. in the field.
as an aircraft woman in the Royal “There weren’t enough men when “They had to fly by the seat of their
Australian Airforce during World they opened the technical mustering pants, so being an electrician came
War Two. positions, so after I served 12 months in very handy and I trained many of
in the hospital, they sent me to my them up,” she says.
“I joined the RAAF on my 18th
birthday with other young women new post for training at the South Yet, with all her professionalism, she
who wanted to be trained up to help,” Australian School of Mines and didn’t forget how to have fun, and
said Betty. “We were rookies back Industries, where I worked with basic even used her skills for some sneaky
then, but we were well and truly metals and was given three months of manoeuvring.
trained to march, I can tell you, and electrical training," says Betty.
a few weeks later, the Americans “After that, they decided to post “I was a bit naughty sometimes too,”
arrived in Bankstown, so we were me to the electrical side and I was she tells us. “Once I bought a radio
moved to Melbourne.” sent to Adelmo Technology in NSW from one of the soldiers at camp, but

Betty worked as a nurse in her where other female electricians and we didn’t have any electricity to run
it, so I cut into the light circuit and
first year in service, in No. 2 RAAF I continued our regional training for 'stole' the electricity from the light so
Hospital in Ascot Vale, Melbourne. another six months, then one more
month of actual aircraft training.” we could jive.”

Betty recalls there were 23 girls in “I spent four years in the RAAF as an
the electrical training team, but they electrician. My service number was
peeled off some of the operational 90723, and I remember everything
training unit to work radio and other - especially how much hard work it
instrument maintenance, while the was, but we had fun too.”
rest of them learned circuitry and Betty also recalls the American
aircraft maintenance. bands that were popular then.

“I worked on the bombers. It was a “We made sure to keep the spirit
very busy time because not only did alive with dancing,” she says. “I
we work seven days a week, but we especially remember the row of
also worked three nights a week on gunnies at one end of the room, while
top of that," she said. "But it had to our group of girls was at the other
be done - we had to look after the end, and the song When the Saints
bombers for our pilots." Go Marching In was playing while we

After some of the men started all just stared at each other with pink
returning from Africa, a lot of cheeks.”
different fighter planes came over “Gosh we were all so young back
too, so the women had to train the then.”

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