BY JARROD McALEESE
THE JAPANESE bombing of Darwin sent shockwaves through Australia … and it was this event, said Warragul born Stan Beazley, that inspired him to enrol in the armed forces in order to “fight for his country”.
A country boy destined to grow up and work the farm his family lived on, Beazley, now 92, was exempt from army enlistment during World War II but this did not deter him from joining the fight.
Stationed in Darwin, Mr Beazley was deployed with the Australian General Transport Company as a driver, delivering bombs, petrol, supplies and personnel.
He said that everyone, regardless of their role, was forced to be on constant alert.
“We were always on guard, carrying weapons. I could never relax, even when I was off duty,” Mr Beazley said.
During harvest leave from the army, Stan met a woman named Melva – who he married within three weeks.
In late 1944 Mr Beazley was informed that he was being discharged from the army.
He and his wife raised five children in the years after the war and he said that Anzac Day will always be important to him.
“We must show respect and remember those that didn’t return from the war,” Mr Beazley said.
Mr Beazley is a resident of Villa Maria Catholic Homes (VMCH) Berwick. His neighbours Cedric Pobjoy and Freda Newsome also recalled how World War II shaped their lives.
Mr Pobjoy, now 89, did not know whether he would see war when he joined the Royal Australian Air Force on his 18th birthday in 1943.
An apprentice fitter and turner, he began to question his decision while sleeping on concrete in the grandstand of the MCG, which had been requisitioned by the government for military use.
Mr Pobjoy was not deployed for combat and in his 18 months of aircraft engineering training in Victoria and South Australia met his future wife, Elva.
The pair married in 1948 and had two children, eventually settling together in Berwick.
British native Ms Newsome, now 96, served in the Women’s Royal Naval Service in England from 1941 to 1945 after deciding it was more preferable than other lines of work.
“As a woman, if you didn’t join the navy you got stuck in a factory or something, and I didn’t fancy that,” Ms Newsome said.
Gaining experience in maintaining navy personnel pay records, Ms Newsome later worked as a pay clerk and finally a milk bar owner in Mordialloc where she settled with her husband and two sons.
VMCH aged care residences across Melbourne will hold commemorative services on 25 April to honour those who lived and served through the world wars and subsequent military actions.
