Corporal Helen Annie McDonald, a Gunditjmara woman from Colac, and her siblings were brought up in an orphanage in Geelong. Their widowed father Joe (George) McDonald was a disabled First World War veteran and was deemed incapable of looking after his children by the State Government.
He was one of only two Victorian First Peoples servicemen to hold a Soldier Settlement block. It was, like so many blocks, unproductive land, and he was forced to give it up. Helen loved to cook, and was in charge of the orphanage kitchen for a time before taking outside employment.
McDonald was 21 years of age when she enlisted with the Australian Women’s Army Service (AWAS) during the Second World War. She served in the Catering Corp from 1943–46, putting her cooking skills to good use.
Corporal Helen Annie McDonald 1943
Melbourne, Victoria
photographer unknown
REPRODUCED COURTESY OF THE AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL and AUNTY JUDITH MCDONALD
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Wally and Connie Alberts
Wally served with the 4th Anti-Tank Regiment, The Royal Australian Artillery during the Second World War. Connie worked in the Maribyrnong munitions factory during the war manufacturing bullets.
Aunty Dot Peters' wreath
The gum leaf wreath artwork by Nina Kelabora is inspired by the late Aunty Dot Peters AM, who laid a gum leaf wreath at the Shrine each year.
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