Defence spouse

80 years ago, war widows in NSW came together for the first time. They were demanding fair treatment, fair compensation, and a place in the system that had largely overlooked them. Jessie Vasey gathered them, not to seek sympathy, but to build a community grounded in dignity, self-help and mutual support.  That community has lasted 80 years. The need it answered has not […]

80 years ago, a group of war widows met in Sydney and refused to be forgotten. This is the story of how the Guild began and the story of the woman who made it happen. It was a winter afternoon in Sydney, Tuesday, 4 June 1946. In the conference room of the Grand United Order of

On the afternoon of 17 June, war widows came together at Government House, Sydney for an afternoon tea hosted by our Patron, Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC, Governor of New South Wales. It was the first gathering of our 80th anniversary year and, looking back on it now, a fitting way to