My name is Patsy Edwards. I was doomed to go into military life.
My family history goes back to the Boer War, if not earlier. My great uncle, my mother’s uncle, went to the Boer War. My grandfather went to WWI and so did some of my great uncles, and my father and his four brothers served in WWII.
When I was growing up in Hobart an older sister married a sailor, so mum and dad opened their house for the Navy to offer them some good home cooked meals and to party safely. I was only young and used to think ‘this looks like a good life’.
When my brother-in-law came back from sea, he used to take me out to the regatta in Hobart or bring presents back for me and I’d listen to all the stories from his travels. I was determined to go into the Navy.
But back in those days they didn’t allow women in the Navy Reserves so I went to the Army Reserves – the Women’s Royal Australian Army Corps (WRAAC), when the women were women and the men were men. I did two years with them and was finally able to get into the Navy in the Women's Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS). I was in the third class that accepted female Electronic Technician Communications (ETCs) but later became a Victualler which the Navy then changed to Naval Stores.
Then I did a silly thing and got married and back then they weren’t real keen on married women in the Navy, so I transferred to the WRANS Reserves (The marriage never lasted). Later I was then allowed to go to the Navy Reserves with the males. I was the first female in Tasmania to be able to join the Navy Reserve. During my time in the Navy Reserves, I served two to three days a week with the Permanent Navy at HMAS Huon and also worked at the shore establishments in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide, Darwin and Cairns.
My heart was Navy.
I put up with a lot from the men over the years but I was also a bit cheeky and that helped.
I’ve seen lots of change. I’ve seen the WRAAC become integrated with the soldiers and WRANS become integrated with the sailors.
I had so many fun times and I think the best would have been at HMAS Huon in Hobart. There were about 23 regular sailors there and they used to have functions in the mess and us reservists were always invited. They had dress-up nights and parties and we used to muck around something silly, dancing and hanging out and nobody judged anybody. The friendship was great between the regulars and us.
The most memorable sea trip that I was able to do would be in 1995 on HMAS Sydney. We went 300km south of Hobart towards Antarctica looking for rough seas to do helicopter trials. And you wouldn’t credit it, the ocean was a smooth as anything. The sun was out and the weather was beautiful, not what the Navy wanted. It took a few days to get there, stayed out looking for rough weather and then returned.
I ended my 46-year service career in the Army Reserves. Unfortunately, the job that I worked with the Navy, was changed to civilian contract and then I was offered a transfer to 2nd/17th Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment (2/17 RNSWR) who had a Unit in Gosford and were in need of a Quartermaster. I had 17 years with the Army Reserves but really missed the Navy.
This is the story of Patsy Edwards as to Carla Edwards.
