MACDONALD, Joyce Elizabeth
| Other Name: | WILLIAMS, Joyce Elizabeth - Married Name |
|---|---|
| Service Number: | 110413 |
| Enlisted: | 2 June 1943, Melbourne, Vic. |
| Last Rank: | Aircraftwoman |
| Last Unit: | RAAF Laverton |
| Born: | Lismore, Victoria, Australia, 29 May 1925 |
| Home Town: | Lismore, Corangamite, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Counter Assistant Lismore Pharmacy |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 2 Jun 1943: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Aircraftwoman, 110413, RAAF Laverton, Melbourne, Vic. | |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Jul 1946: | Discharged Royal Australian Air Force, Aircraftwoman, 110413 |
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Daughter of Lt. Andrew Lamond MacDONALD and Helen Gail MacDONALD, Lismore, Victoria.
Joy was born in Lismore, Victoria, and was a premature baby who wasn’t expected to live, let alone become a centenarian!
Joy is a veteran of the Second World War. Her father Andrew MacDonald served in both the First and Second World Wars as an officer.
Before serving, Joy worked at the local chemist. She also completed her St John’s first aid certificate and a Senior Home Nursing Certificate. Joy enlisted in the Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) in June 1943, where her recruiting officer noted that she was ‘alert, pleasant mannered, very keen’ and a ‘good type’. Joy completed her recruit training at the No. 1 WAAAF Training Depot in Preston, and with her previous experience and qualifications, she was selected to be a medical orderly, which in the Air Force had the title of sick quarters attendant. Joy then served at Central Sick Quarters at the Laverton RAAF base. During that time, she also saw ex-Prisoners of War (POWs) returning from Japanese captivity, ‘they looked like skin and bone. I’ll never forget it’. Joy also nursed some Italian POWs.
In July 1946, Joy was discharged from the WAAAF. She says she met some lovely patients and enjoyed being a nurse and part of the hospital.
After the war, Joy completed a domestic science course at the Emily McPherson College of Domestic Economy in Melbourne, where she ‘learned to cook’. She also worked as a bookkeeper, and as a pay mistress at Cash’s Labels factory, Australian Knitting Mills and the Kayser hosiery factory.
In 1949, Joy married Herbert ‘Jim’ Williams who had been a flight mechanic in the RAAF. The couple went on to have ‘two wonderful boys’ and 2 grandchildren. Jim sadly passed away in 1992.
When Joy was younger, she played tennis and loved gardening and looking after people. She is now an avid reader, and enjoys participating in the activities at the aged care facility and socialising with the other residents.
Joy credits her longevity to leading a healthy lifestyle, her determination, and working hard on the family farm.
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