01 Oct '10

A resident of TriCare's James Ommaney Village for five and a half years, Mary Headrick, at 97 is living life to the full. 

With a social calendar to be envied and hobbies such as calling bingo, Mary keeps herself busy with endless functions and activities such as happy hour, Rummikums, 500, indoor golf and many more.

Life wasn't always this 'social' for Mary who experienced World War One as a child and then served at home and abroad in World War Two as a Defense Nurse. 

Born in Toowoomba on the 25th July 1913, Mary Headrick (nee Carseldine) was the oldest of six siblings who were moved across the state and lived in many homes growing up as children of a police officer, from Toowoomba and Emerald in the West, Thursday Island in the North and “anywhere in between”.

At the age of 16, Mary's family moved to Thursday Island where her father was stationed and Mary worked the islands Post Office switchboard until she was old enough to start training to become a nurse.  In 1931, at the age of 18, Mary commenced her training at the Torres Strait Hospital. 

Mary explains that it was very interesting dealing with the different local cultures and professions such as the pearl divers.  After undertaking Midwifery training in Townsville Mary worked in a number of locations including Palm Island, Emerald and Wondai.

When war was declared in 1941, Mary was working in Wondai, however, she felt she should contribute to the war effort and enlisted as a Defense Nurse in the Australian Army which involved being relocated to the Redbank Camp Hospital, west of Brisbane to continue her nursing training.  Defense Nurses were subject to the strict regulations of the army who controlled personnel’s coming and going and a dress code, which for nurses consisted of a grey uniform with white collar, cuffs and veil and a very strict frock length.

After a short period of time in the Australian camp hospital Mary was transferred to New Guinea where, for 15 months, she endured primitive conditions, living in a tent with a dirt floor with three other nurses.  Their drinking water was stored in a kerosene tin and there was only tinned and dehydrated food available for consumption.  As Malaria was prevalent the nurses were required to wear the same uniform as the men from 6pm to 6am, which created some confusion with the nurses often being mistaken as men.

Mary was then transported to Moratai, an Island in the group of the Molucca Islands 695 square miles in size, 300 miles north west of Sansapr, New Guinea.  Conditions on Moratai were better for the Defense Nurses and when peace was declared, Mary was one of six sisters from her hospital to be transferred to Singapore to assist in the repatriation of the Prisoners of War.  Here, the sisters joined the 2nd 14th hospital and after only a couple of months repatriation was complete and the nurses, along with all of the Prisoners of War left St George, Singapore bound for Australia. 

Unlike the prevalence of air travel today, transportation in World War Two was predominantly by sea.  Mary explains that for the nurses, travel on the hospital ships was a bit of a holiday with good food served and clean comfortable accommodation.  You were unlucky if you had to travel by troop ship as they were usually more cramped with six to a cabin and hardly room to move.

Mary spent her service in the army in the surgical section of the war hospitals.  She described the work as hard but rewarding in the sense that you treated ‘special’ patients from time to time where you didn't think they would live, and they lived.  She explained one example of one very young fellow who was wounded down the whole left hand side of his body, they didn't think would make it.  He miraculously survived and Mary kept in touch with this young man for many years after the war.

Like many who served in World War Two, Mary has been awarded a number of war medals for her service.  Along with her Service Medal and Commonwealth Medal, Mary has also received a 39/49 Star for her years of service and a Pacific Star for her service in the Pacific region.  At 97 Mary has participated in the Anzac Day parade and also attends other memorial services, birthday parties and is invited to speak at other Army engagements throughout the year.  Recently, Mary was one of three World War Two nurses at the Enogerra Army Barracks for the dedication of a new barracks to Sister Savage, the only surviving sister from the Centaur.

After five years service, Mary requested her discharge from the army, as her family wanted her home.  On the 19th March 1946 Mary was discharged from the army and in 1948 was married.

Mother to her son and grandmother to three grandchildren Mary loves living close to her family and enjoys the friendship and social aspect of living in a retirement village.  An advocate for retirement village living, Mary explained that she is very happy at James Ommaney Village as she knows everybody and explains that you "can be as active or as idle as you want – it's up to you".