Lorna (Diana) McGlashan (nee Gardner)
(1925-1983)

Aircraftwoman, Gardner 101526

When WWII came, Diana’s brothers enlisted in the army and her sister, Jean joined the Women’s Australian Auxiliary Air Force working side by side with men as an aircraft mechanic. Too young to enlist herself, Diana joined the Land Army, tobacco farming on the Atherton tablelands. Women all over Australia took on the job of men who were called up for Army Service. The pay was about £2 ($4) a week plus keep and accommodation (a shed). "The women often toiled in unglamorous surroundings, doing heavy physical work for long hours. At their peak enrolment in October 1944, there were 3068 of these labourers in the field, keeping food and other agricultural supplies up to the vast armies in the Pacific". [Source: Ipswich Remembers by Robyn Buchanan, 1995].

In 1943, then aged 18, she enlisted in the WAAAF. She was posted as a telegraphist to Brisbane, Ascot Vale and Evan Head and was discharged two years later to take up nursing training.