AWAS on Rottnest - W45349 PITTS (married NEWBY)
Documentation relating to the AWAS service of W45349 Lance Sergeant Muriel Emilie Pitts (married name Newby) of Melville, born Essex England
Muriel was born 20 March 1921 in Essex, England. At the time of her enlistment on 16 February 1942 at the WACA ground WA she was a 20 year old single women, living with her parents in Melville WA, and working as a canteen attendant. She was allocated the service number W45349 and graded canteen Attendant TGIV. During her enlistment she experienced several bouts of ill health but returned to duty and received promotion to Sergeant. She served at Rottnest for 2 months before being discharged, medically unfit, on 18 September 1944
Subsequent correspondence with State Housing Commission Of WA and the Central Army Records Office on 2 February 1966 address Muriel as Mrs Newby.
Muriel died at the age of 82 in 2004, in Palmyra.
Husband? Married post 1948 Reverse marriages show she married Thomas William Newby in 1961 in Perth.
Mother Gwendoline Mary? Father James Percival? Married in Essex Muriel Emilie Pitts baptised in St Andrews Church in Weeley, Essex England on 10 May 1921. Her parents were James Percival Pitts and Gwendoline Mary Pitts
Sources
Index to WA burials Metropolitan Cemeteries index (covers Karrakatta, Fremantle, Rockingham, Midland, Guildford, Pinnaroo and Gnangara Aboriginal cemetery, Muriel Emilie Newby
https://www.mcb.wa.gov.au (Accessed 20 January 2024)
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, Australia, Western Australia, 2251 SUCKLING, 10 Light Horse (23.52km away)
- World War 1, Europe England Woolwich, Brook War Hospital, Australian Army Nursing Service, 1917 (40.93km away)
- World War 1, Australia, Western Australia, 2004 BOYLAN, 10 Light Horse (45.31km away)
- World War 1, Australia, Western Australia, 485 SAUL, 10 Light Horse (45.59km away)
- World War 1, Australia, Western Australia, 500 WALES, 10 Light Horse (46.72km away)
- World War 1, Australia, Western Australia, 449 McCLEARY, 10 Light Horse (47.22km away)
- World War 1, Europe, England, London, 1919 (47.57km away)
- World War 1, England London, 1919 (47.57km away)
- World War 1, Europe, England, London, Victory Parade, 1919 (47.57km away)
- World War 2, Europe England London, Australian Army Nursing Service, 1940 (47.58km away)
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Australian Army Museum of Western Australia
Australian Army Museum of Western Australia
Other items from Australian Army Museum of Western Australia
- AWAS on Rottnest - WF91277 PLATEN
- AWAS on Rottnest - WF94473 McNAUGHTON (nee REID)
- AWAS on Rottnest - WF2918 WATERS
- AWAS on Rottnest - WF90185 WHITE (married WILKINSON)
- AWAS on Rottnest - WF95151 BASTOW
- AWAS on Rottnest - WF90934 WOOLLANDS (married HOLDSWORTH)
- AWAS on Rottnest - WF96892 LLORENS (married BROWNE)
- AWAS on Rottnest - WF45905 BROWNING
- AWAS on Rottnest - WF96313 CLARK (married KEEN)
- AWAS on Rottnest - WF93144 CLELAND
- AWAS on Rottnest - W45399 CRAWLEY (married LEONARD)
- AWAS on Rottnest - WF90201 DARK