Joan Agnes Gordon Bennett (1918 - aft. 2018)

Born 4 Feb 1918 in Southampton, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Died after 4 Feb 2018 after age 100 in Parkes, New South Wales, Australia

Biography

Joan Agnes Gordon Bennett was born on 4th February 1918 in Southampton, Hampshire, England, whilst her Aussie parents were there during the First World War. She was the only child of (later Major General) Gordon Bennett and Bess Buchanan.^[1] The little Victorian family moved to Rose Bay, New South Wales - overlooking Sydney Harbour - where Joan's father established an accountancy practice, a textile business and worked for veterans. Joan was enrolled at Kambala School for Girls, Rose Bay, completing her formal education at the end of Year 11 in 1934. In her last year she was a prefect and school captain. Family holidays were spent at Bowral, in the New South Wales Southern Highlands, where Joan learnt to ride and care for horses, a passion that lasted all her life.

Joan’s first paying job was as the physical education teacher at the Methodist Ladies College in Kew. She found it a tough assignment as a lot of the young ladies were only slightly younger than herself and maintaining discipline was interesting to say the least. She stayed in that position for one year, after which she accepted the job as sports mistress at Marsden College, Kelso, to be a bit closer to her parents and was working there when the Second World War broke out.

Joan Bennett is a Military Veteran.
Served in the Second Australian Imperial Force 1942-1947
130th Australian General Hospital

Joan joined the Voluntary Aid Detachments (VAD). They were issued with military-looking uniforms, they paraded and drilled like the military, but were actually part of the Red Cross organisation. As casualties mounted in the war the government realised they needed more nurses and the VAD’s were allowed to enlist and train as nurses on the job. Joan enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service on 22nd October 1942 and trained at 113th Australian General Hospital (AGH), later the Concord Repatriation Hospital, nursing injured military personnel. She did officer training and was a Lieutenant attached to the 130th AGH at the war’s end. Joan volunteered to go to Japan with the Commonwealth Occupation Forces. There, she travelled extensively, visiting Hiroshima and skied on Mount Fuji. She was demobilised on 12th February 1947. ^[2]

Released from military duties, Joan took up secretarial work at Cooma, New South Wales, on the Snowy Mountain Hydro-electic Scheme.

Joan was a nurse

Joan next exercised her appetite for travel by taking employment nursing at the Royal Edinburgh Infirmary, Scotland, and then at Caernarvon, Wales. Back in New South Wales she trained as a midwife at Ryde Hospital. She later went nursing at Mudgee and finally Parkes.

Joan was a farmer

On her retirement, around 1978, Joan bought a 170 acre property in the Parkes Shire, naming it “Bundalee”, where she could indulge her love of horses and raise cattle. She was also involved in running Fulmer Boarding Kennels in the Blue Mountains where they bred champion cocker spaniels. Her mum passed away at this time, 1986.

Joan found time to pursue her other love, the Girl Guide movement. She was heavily involved with the “lones”, guides that had no local group or lived in a remote location; and particularly proud when one of her lones achieved “Queens Guide” status. Joan was also a regular member of the Bindogundra Church and attended many Anzac Day services in Parkes.

A resident of Rosedurnate Aged Care Plus, Parkes, New South Wales, Joan turned 100 years of age on 4th February 2018, surrounded by her family. ^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ UK FreeBMD Birth Index Mar qtr 1918, vol 2c, page 104
2. ↑ Australian War Memorial nominal roll: NX133011 (N389923) Lieutenant Joan Gordon Bennett; accessed 23 Apr 2019
3. ↑ Parkes Champion-Post: Parkes resident Joan Bennett turns 100 years old, by Christine Little; accessed 23 Apr 2019