AWAS on Rottnest - W45288 FORSYTH (married CHAPPELL)

Mavis was born on 1 November 1921 in the Perth suburb of Leederville, WA. Her parents were Sydney Colin Kenneth Forsyth and Norma Emma Eliza Scott . She had a younger sister, Ann.
Mavis was a dressmaker prior to her enlistment on 19 January 1942 at the WACA Ground, aged 20 years .
In correspondence with Central Army Records in Canberra, she describes her war service as follows : “I served with Ordnance at Bushmead WA for a short time then transferred to Signals. After a training course with 2nd Aust Sig Training Bn at Ivanhoe VIC, I was posted to AA & Fortress Signals in Fremantle WA and later with the same unit on Rottnest Island. After attending further courses at Ivanhoe, Darley and Bonegilla (VIC) I was posted to 24 L of C Signals in Cairns, as Lieutenant. I was discharged on 24 December 1945.” This is the only reference to Rottnest in all her service record documents.
Her initial posting was as TG2 Seamstress, as a Private, but after some preliminary training she was posted to 2 Signals Training Battalion (AWAS) in Ivanhoe in July 1942 and she returned to WA in October 1942 as a TG1 Wireless Operator with a different unit, Fremantle Fixed Defences (Signals), initially as Lance Corporal. Promotion to Corporal followed in December 1943 and after attending an NCO course in Melville WA she rejoined her unit in April 1944, serving with this unit until September 1944. It is likely that her Rottnest posting occurred sometime during this period.
On 2 October 1944, she was transferred to Bonegilla VIC for further training, and then to Darley VIC. She qualified on 11 February 1945, was promoted to Lieutenant on 23 February 1945 and immediately transferred to the 43 Aust Wireless Section of 24 L of C Signals in Cairns QLD. She was discharged at Cairns on 24 December 1945 after nearly 4 years of exemplary service .
Mavis returned to Perth after discharge, and a holiday visit in early 1946 to her aunty, Mrs L Chappell, whose husband was a grain farmer at North Lake Grace was reported in the regional newspaper’s Lake Grace Notes section . She would have met Arthur Harold (Harry) Chappell of Lake Grace through this family connection.
Harry Chappell was reported in the local press as serving with the RAAF 1st Aus Spitfire Squadron when he “returned home on leave from the islands” . There is no official online data in respect of his war service, but the local press reported in October 1945 “Mr Harry Chappell has received his discharge from the RAAF and is back on the farm”
Mavis and Harry were engaged in September 1946 and married on 15 February 1947 at St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Perth. A detailed report of the ceremony was featured in the Lake Grace Notes several weeks later . Two extracts are significant: “… two lucky horse-shoes were placed on the bride’s arm by Miss Ann Forsyth and Miss Kath Chappell, the first being a gift from an AWAS friend of the bride living in Bordertown, SA.”; “Mr and Mrs Chappell will make their future home in Lake Grace”.
Mavis was active in local affairs, in particular as President of the local RSL Women’s Auxiliary, representing the branch at a conference in Perth 15-17 July 1952. Fund-raising was a major activity of this group in support of local facilities, and for war veterans and the Korean War Fund.
She died on 7 October 1989 in Greenwood WA and was buried in Karrakatta Cemetery .
Harry outlived Mavis, but his date of death is not recorded.

WA Births, Deaths and Marriages
Service Record NAA B884 W45288 page 1
Service Record NAA B884 W45288 page 18
Service Record NAA B884 W45288 Pages 6-10
Wagin Argus and Arthur, Dumbleyung, Lake Grace Express (WA: 1924 – 1954), Thu 24 January 1946, page 6 https://trove.nla.gov.au
Ibid Thu 14 December 1944, page 5
Ibid Thu 20 March 1947, page 8
Metropolitan Cemeteries Board mcb.wa.gov.au