Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Doris (Dolly) GRANT was one of five women from the Jondaryan area in Queensland to enlist in the Australian
Women's Army Service on 26 February 1943.

She served in the Catering Corps as a Waitress at the Australian Army Headquarters in Atherton, Queensland.

The Headquarters had more than 100 000 soldiers in 160 locations including camps, mess kitchens, hospitals, an airfield, army farms, entertainment halls & a war cemetary.(Source: RSL Queensland website)

Like many of her generation, Nana did not disclose much
information about her war service.

When asked about it once, she did
proudly say that she had waited on Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Land Forces, General Thomas Blamey and his wife, Olga Blamey (new Farnsworth) when they visited Atherton.
It was while working in the messes in Atherton that she met her husband, John (Jack) William Patrick
Digan, who originally hailed from Adelaide. He was based at Atherton after
returning injured from fighting as a "Rat of Tobruk". Dolly and Jack married in Atherton in 
July 1945 and they were both discharged from the Army in September 1945.
They resettled in Dolly's home town, Jondaryan. They had three daughters Kaye, Denise and Lorelle. Kaye, Denise and Lorelle have fond memories of childhood in a country town and living with Grandpa Grant who Nana cared for in his last years.

Her husband, Jack, worked in the Butter Factory
and also with Queensland Railways as a Fettler.

Dolly actively worked in her community. She was involved with the CWA, the school tuck-shop, preparing
suppers for the hall committee, and babysitting for ladies' days at the Oakey Golf Club.

The girls remember attending dances at the local halls in the area, sometimes in fancy dress.

The couple moved to Toowoomba with the girls in 1967 and settled in their Weetwood Street home.

After raising the girls, Nana lost Jack in
1968 to respiratory problems.

Dolly grew mulberries, chokos and other
veges and gerbera flowers lined the path to the front door.
She had an affinity with plants and gardening and would often "take a cutting" from pieces of plants that took her fancy.

Even when she left Weetwood Street and no longer had a garden of her own, she took to doing gardening at the care homes Carrington in Brisbane and Murrumba
Downs.
Dolly also loved singing, dancing and music and tapping
her toes to music and playing records. She loved swinging around the dance floor at all the family celebrations weddings/21sts.

The staff from Carrington fondly remember her for her dancing prowess.

In her early eighties she even attended a Tom Jones concert with daughter, Lorelle, as a chaperone.
She loved going to the movies and watching TV.

Dolly's sense of humour was unique and often unexpected. One of her favourite comedy shows was "Married with Children".

Dolly was lively and full of fun well into her senior years. On visits to theme parks, the "young" ones would leave
her in charge of the bags while we went on the rollercoasters - only to find her whizzing around on the chair-o-plane when we returned!
Dolly also enjoyed her handcrafts like embroidery, knitting and crochet.
Her craft brought out her love of colour and she expressed this in many other ways. She loved rings, bracelets and beads and one of her few luxuries was to
adorn herself with their sparkling rainbow of colours. She also loved to decorate the walls of her room at the care homes with colourful photographs, clippings from magazines and paintings and pictures by the great-grandchildren.

Doris passed away on the 19 June 2007, just a couple of weeks short of her 89th birthday. She is buried in Drayton Cemetery, Toowoomba next to Jack.