AWAS on Rottnest - WF95328 HURLEY
1943Documentation relating to the AWAS service of WF95328 Bombardier Phyllis Hurley of Queens Park
Details
Details
The Australian Women’s Army Service (AWAS) was formed in late 1941, two years after the outbreak of World War 2. Australian women had been agitating for some time for the chance to join the War Effort. They wanted to do “real work, not knit sock for the men.” The primary aim of AWAS was to release men from some military duties so they could be deployed in fighting units.
Initial recruitment was for duties associated with “women’s work”, clerks, cooks and typists, still being done my male soldiers. Beginning in early 1942 as invading Japanese swept through the South West Pacific towards Australia, many more military trades were opened to women including signals, weapons plotting, drivers, which involved close contact with the coast defence systems on Rottnest.
This collection brings together the stories of women in the Australian Women’s Army Service who were deployed on Rottnest Island as part of the defences of Fortress Fremantle from 30 September 1942 onward. The content is based on a “Saluting Their Service” exhibition developed by the Rottnest Voluntary Guides on the 80th Anniversary of this deployment. The exhibition was presented at Kingstown Barracks, Rottnest Island from 8-9 October 2022 and at the Australian Army Museum of Western Australia from 9 – 17 November 2022.
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Nearest geotagged records:
- World War 1, England, 1916 (0.64km away)
- World War 1, Australia, Western Australia, 2156A DEAN, 10 Light Horse (1.19km away)
- World War 1, Australia, Western Australia, 3424 HODGES, 10 Light Horse (1.3km away)
- World War 1, Australia, Western Australia, 975 MASON, 10 Light Horse (1.62km away)
- World War 1, Australia, Western Australia, TURTON, 10 Light Horse (1.85km away)
- World War 1, Western Australia, 3215 SIBLEY, 51 Battalion, 1915 (2.26km away)
- World War 1, Western Australia, 3215 SIBLEY, 51 Battalion, 1915 (2.49km away)
- Cockatoos - St James (3.44km away)
- BOOLA BIDJOOL (LOTS OF GECKO) (3.56km away)
- TRAM BUS STOP (3.6km away)
View all geotagged records...
Australian Army Museum of Western Australia
Australian Army Museum of Western Australia
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- AWAS on Rottnest - WF15731 KEIR
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- AWAS on Rottnest - WF94861 LOUDON