Patricia Jean (Patsy) BECKETT (ADAM-SMITH) AO, OBE

BECKETT (ADAM-SMITH), Patricia Jean

Service Number: VFX124737
Enlisted: 17 March 1943
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: Australian Army Medical Women's Service
Born: Carlton, Victoria, Australia, 31 May 1924
Home Town: Penshurst, Southern Grampians, Victoria
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Book-keeper, Historian, Author
Died: Multi-infarct Dementia, Brighton, Victoria, Australia, 20 September 2001, aged 77 years
Cemetery: Drouin Public Cemetery, Victoria
Roman Catholic, B-51
Memorials:
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World War 2 Service

17 Mar 1943: Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VFX124737
14 Jul 1944: Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VFX124737, Australian Army Medical Women's Service

Help us honour Patricia Jean BECKETT (Adam-Smith)'s service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.

Biography contributed by Barker Gary

Based on information in her book "Goodbye Girlie' (Penguin, 1994), the following relates to her service during World War 2. 

Before her marriage to Clarence William Beckett in 1944, Patricia Jean Smith (later known as Patsy Adam-Smith) enlisted in the Volunteer Aide Detachment in 1941. She was posted to 108 Australian Generla Hospital, located in Ballarat, Victoria.

In 1942 the VAD changed to khaki uniforms and Army basic training was instituted. She was now a member of the Australian Army Medical Women's Service and was sent to Darley Camp about 5 km north west of Baccus Marsh. On completion she was sent to the 1st Orthopaedic Hospital near Toowoomba, Queensland. 

She qualified on a Warrant Officer's School in Liverpool, near Sydney, and was promoted to Corporal. Four days after her marriage in Tasmania in 1944 she returned to her unit until discharged.

 

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