Commando News Edition 13, 2022

THE LAST COASTWATCHER
Interview of Beryl Burrowes (nee Sexton)
By James Burrowes OAM
This is the transcript of an interview of my wife Beryl (now aged 98 and to whom I have been married for 71 years)
about her 3 years service in the WAAAF (Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force) during World War II. Beryl and her
older sister, Maureen, joined up in April 1943. See the photo on the front page of The Sun newspaper below. The
interview was conducted in August 2020 by our grandson, Quinn Burrowes (aged 15 at the time), for a school project
about World War II. JB
Why did you want to enlist?
Actually when I was to go in at
the age of 18 it was called ‘enrol’.
You had the choice of enrolling or
enlisting. If you enlisted they could
send you anywhere, if you enrolled
you stayed in Australia. Anyway, the
next election the prime minister
that got in was the one who said he
wouldn’t send Australian women
out of Australia. Anyway I wanted
to enlist to help the war effort. I had
no money to chip in so I joined up,
and for the experience as well.
What were you doing at the
time?
I was working in Bendigo. I had
moved to Bendigo to be near my
grandparents who lived in Elmore
looking after my younger sisters. So
when all the bombing was going
on by the Japanese around the
place I thought I better help them.
So then I enlisted and I couldn’t
help my grandparents anymore.
What was the first thing that
happened once you enlisted?
The day we called in there were
quite a lot of other girls joining. We
were all taken to Larundel in
Preston; it was a big place built for
retarded children. They didn’t use
it, they turned it into a camp for
service women. I was there for five
weeks doing a rookies course.
We learned about all the
services and what they do. And
marching; we did a lot of marching.
And discipline. We learned all
those things. We even learned
about gas and had a test in a gas
chamber which was interesting. We
did that for five weeks, and after
five weeks we were sent out to
other places.
And I went to the Air Force
hospital offices at Heidelberg
hospital. I was there for ten weeks
Beryl during World War II and in 2016 wearing
her Defence Medal and War Medal 1939-45 working in the offices and
interacting with all the injured
airmen. And they were in terrible condition, shocking
burns, it’s something I’ll never forget what those poor
men went through.
Maureen (left), Aunt Kate
and Beryl.
What did you think would happen to you?
I didn’t really know but I was looking forward to a
different experience, which it was. Because I went into
the service with no confidence at all, but came out full
of confidence.
Beryl (second from left) and her older sister Maureen (left) joining
up in mid-April 1943. Ph: The Sun
What role did you play in the war?
After the first 10 weeks I was posted to Air Force
records, and worked on all the records. I had a set of
books of 2000 men which I took the records of where
COMMANDO ~ The Magazine of the Australian Commando Association ~ Edition 13 I 2022 29