YOUNG, Audrey June
| Service Number: | VF511260 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 15 June 1943 |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
| Born: | Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, 1 June 1925 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Bendigo High School Honour Roll WW2 |
World War 2 Service
| 15 Jun 1943: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Lance Corporal, VF511260 | |
|---|---|---|
| 21 May 1946: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Lance Corporal, VF511260 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Larna Malone
Audrey June Young was born in 1925, the daughter of Norman McLaren Young and Ada Dorothy Cambridge. Norman McLaren Young, known as 'Mac', had enlisted for service in the AIF during WW1 and qualified as a First Class Signaller, together with his good friend Herbert Booker Field. The friendship continued after the war and extended to their subsequent families. Audrey June Young and Joan Eleanor Field, being the same age, were particularly close friends.
Norman McLaren Young continued his military service in the AMF as a Signalling Instructor. After war was declared he enlisted in the AIF and served as a Major at HQ, NT Force. The family proficiency in Signalling was continued by his daughter. On 15th June, 1943, Audrey June Young enlisted in the Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) as a Signalwoman. Her friend Joan Eleanor Field joined at the same time.
"Following in the footsteps of their fathers who were signallers during the great war, Joan Field, daughter of Major and Mrs H. B. Field, Caulfield, and formerly of Bendigo; and Audrey, daughter of Major and Mrs N. McLaren Young, Brougham Street, Bendigo, joined the A.W.A.S. some months ago, and are at present endeavouring to prove that they can be just as efficient as their respective fathers were before them, when they qualified as first-class signallers during the great war. Coincidence plays a big part in the two families as both girls are second daughters, both 18 years of age, and each shows a great keenness for sig. training. The accompanying photos show the fathers also at 18, when they enlisted in the last war, and the daughters in a recent photo. Both majors resumed their military life again in the present war as signalling instructors, but now hold staff appointments, Major Young, somewhere in Australia, and Major Field as A.Q.M.G. in Vic. L. of C. Area." [The Bendigo Advertiser November 13, 1943]
The AWAS Camp site was in Fawkner Park, South Yarra. Audrey was subsequently promoted to the rank of L/Cpl. She was Discharged from AWAS on 21st May, 1946.
Audrey June Young Married Alex. Duncan McKenzie in 1950.
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