Victorians at War - Oral History Project

Personal Stories
Joan Johnstone (Army - WWII)
Joan was raised in Melbourne and took her first job as an office girl at Consolidated Press when she was 14 years old. She worked in a cigarette factory and then as a salesgirl until deciding to enlist in the Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) in 1941. Joan trained at Glamorgan in Toorak, Victoria, and was sent to work as a switchboard operator in 2 Australian Army Head Quarters in Frankston. She was transferred to Sydney when the Head Quarters were relocated to Parramatta, New South Wales, and promoted to the rank of Corporal. In August 1943 Joan requested she be posted back to Melbourne and began work with the military magazine Salt. She was promoted to Sergeant in 1945 and discharged from the army a year later in May 1946.	Listen to interview (approx. 1 hour) Read Transcript