War Widows' Guild of Australia NSW

Mrs Jessie Vasey established the War Widows' Guild of Australia in Victoria in 1945[4] to bring war widows together to support each other and to speak with one voice to improve their circumstances. Within two years the organisation had spread across Australia, with the Guild being established in NSW in 1946. Guild clubs were established to support war widows across Sydney and NSW. Secretaries, including Mrs Una Boyce AM OBE, who was State Secretary of the Guild from 1961 to 1989, succeeded in achieving a range of concessions and benefits for war widows.[5] Since its inception, the Guild has continued to advocate on behalf of war widows and offers friendship and services to its members.[6]

The Guild's Motto is an extract from King George VI's Christmas message of 1941 and was adopted by the national Guild in 1949 at its third annual conference. The extract was considered a suitable expression of their ideals:[7]

"We all belong to each other. We all need each other. It is in serving each other and in sacrificing for our common good that we are finding our true life."

The Guild's founder, Mrs Jessie Vasey, was the originator of the idea for the design of the Guild's badge. It features the kookaburra, an industrious and cheerful bird who mated for life, was fearless and aggressive in the defence of its young and the area of territory it regarded as its own. The bird also had a unique call, not a song but a laugh; a chortle of rollicking mirth (to bring the widows back to laughter[8]). Also the kookaburra is a typically and completely Australian symbol, one that could be worn proudly by every widow whatever her creed or ideals. The kookaburra was also the mascot of the 7th Division , commanded by Mrs Vasey's husband, Major-General George Alan Vasey.[9]

Mrs Vasey asked the Hungarian sculptor, Andor Meszaros, who was living in Melbourne, to design a badge featuring this Australian bird. The badge was made of sterling silver in England, and depicted a kookaburra alighting in flight on to a branch of gum leaves. Sometime later, as membership increased, smaller badges were made out of base metal as the price of sterling silver had become prohibitive.[10] The Guild has adopted the kookaburra badge design as its logo.

To mark the Guild's 60th Anniversary in 2006, the NSW Guild commissioned their own history. No Peacetime Cinderellas, written by historian Roslyn Burge, tells the story of the Guild since its establishment in New South Wales.[11] The book was launched in October 2008 by the Guild's Patron, Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO, Governor of New South Wales.[12]

Membership in NSW is open to women defined as war widows in the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 who have not remarried,[13] to widows and dependants covered by subsequent legislation, and also to eligible war widows from allied countries. In 2011 there are about 9,500 members around NSW.[1]

The Guild advocates for war widows to the Commonwealth, NSW and local governments and to other organizations.[6] The NSW Guild built 13 blocks of self-care units at nine locations between 1953 and 1988,[3] and continues to provide low cost self care housing to war widows. The Guild also provides information, advice and help to its members. The Guild has over 100 Guild and Social Clubs based in Sydney and in regional NSW.[14]

Communications with members are important for the Guild and in 1948 it commenced publishing the News Sheet.[15] In 1957 the name of the magazine, published quarterly, was changed to the Guild Digest.[16] The publication is registered as a serial title with the National Library of Australia.[17]

Four major events are held each year: the ANZAC Field of Remembrance, the Annual General Meeting, the War Widows' Walk and Picnic, and the members' Christmas Party.[1]

The War Widows' Guild of Australia NSW Ltd is part of an Australia-wide network of state based Guilds in Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory. Each State Guild is a member of the national organisation, War Widows' Guild of Australia Inc.

• War Widows' Guild of Australia NSW
• War Widows' Guild of Australia
• War Widows' Guild of Australia (Qld)