In 1950, the basic was was £8/3/, the War Widows’ pension was £5/2/ for a widow with children, below the poverty line. My grandmother, Mary Edgley, was one of the women who fought the long battle to bring dignity to the lives of the women whose husbands never returned from war.
In her own words (from a memoir she wrote for her family in the early 2000s):
In 1945 I was an original member of the War Widows Guild started by Mrs Vasey. I was on the Executive Committee and later, when we became Australia wide and had a Federal Guild, I was Honorary Secretary and Treasurer. A lot of time was spent in opening branches in country Victoria. Details of the Guild are all in the Book “No Mean Destiny”. I enjoyed the work and it filled a gap in my life as well as doing something useful for the War Widows. Preston Motors gave us a Station Wagon and I used to drive Mrs Vasey. We went to country towns to open branches there and when we became a federal guild we went to Sydney to start a guild there. I was our representative on the Canteens Trust Fund. We used to meet at Victoria Barracks once a fortnight to administer the Fund. The Canteens Trust Fund was formed to administer £5 million which was the profit from canteens and an Act of Parliament made it available for returned soldiers and their dependents. The maximum help was £100 a year given as £25 a quarter. Group Captain Anderson was the Chairman. I was the only woman. The other members were from Army, Navy, Air Force and Legacy.
In 1950 I travelled to Europe, while there I went to Buckingham Palace Garden Party as well as having a private meeting with the Duchess of Kent (Princess Marina) at Clarence House. She was a war widow and was a Patron of our Guild. She was lovely to look at and to my surprise spoke with a foreign accent. She was a Cypriot. Our interview lasted an hour and she was interested to hear all details about the Guild. I have always been interested in the Royal Family and was fascinated by all the signs of royalty at Clarence House – a typewriter with a cover saying “His Royal Highness”, Guards at the entrance in uniform who conducted me in to see the Duchess.
Until my trip I had been very dependent, but the trip gave me some self-dependence and confidence. Life before the 2nd World War was very sheltered for women, especially in Strathfield where I grew up. We were not encouraged to have ideas of our own, but just followed whatever everyone else did. I regret not making more of my opportunities. My father said a woman’s place was in the home. This is what I accepted and always have, and up to a point, still do.