How women kept the country going in WWII

Her mum, Jessie Foley, who had lost three brothers to World War I, died at the age of 42 without ever leaving the country.

It was circumstance that killed her and the lack of penicillin available for civilians.

Jessie ran the shop adjacent to West Wollongong Primary School when the Australian Army moved a battalion of sick soldiers into the school to recover from the black plague during the winter holidays.

The soldiers would wander into Jessie's shop to buy cigarettes, treats and newspapers, pausing occasionally to chat with Jessie and Betty, who had left school at the age of 14, to help her mum in the tiny store.

Within a week of the soldiers arrival, Jessie had contracted the black plague (influenza) and two days later she was dead - all the available penicillin in the country being reserved for the armed forces.

Betty's father, a steelworker, struggled to keep the family together. Her older brother joined the air force and her younger sister, aged six, would eventually be placed in a children's home at Burwood.

In 1942, the year after her mother's death, Betty and a friend, Dora Askew, travelled by train to Martin Place to sign up for the Australian Women's Army Service. Not yet 18, the pair were rejected, so they went next door and signed up instead for the Australian Women's Land Army (AWLA), where all they needed was a birth certificate and the signature of one parent.

Betty and Dora were among the first to join and at just 16, Betty was one of its youngest members. Over the next three years the AWLA would attract 3500 women nationally. The girls were wooed by an extensive, glamorous campaign with colourful posters showing fresh, dewy-faced young women riding tractors and picking apples.

"Keep the farms going while the men are fighting" and "Come and Help with the Victory Harvest", were some of the messages on the bright advertisements.

With the nation's farmers and their sons called to the frontline, there was a drastic shortage of rural labour.

"My friend and I wanted to help with the war effort in some way," says Betty. "They were so desperate for workers to feed, not only the country, but the Australian troops and the visiting troops as well."

At first the farm owners were resistant to the unskilled city girls but they soon showed their mettle, braving the poor, sometimes freezing conditions, the brown snakes and the strenuous physical labour.

A week after joining, Betty and Dora found themselves in Batlow, a light blanket of snow covering the earth.

"We were put to work the same day we arrived, pruning apple trees," says Betty. "We were shown what to do just the once and then told to get on with the job. It was hard work."

As Betty and Dora had been in the early intake, they had been sent to work without the appropriate clothing or blankets. That would come much later. In the meantime, they had to make do with what they had.

"We lived in a long shed, with no lining and our mattresses were stuffed with hay. We used fruit boxes as dressing tables. It was very, very basic living conditions," says Betty.

At night they would heat a brick in the fire, which they used by their bed to keep them warm.

The women also suffered many injuries and Betty hurt her back after three falls from the top of a tall, hardwood ladder.

"We used to have move these heavy ladders around the trees on our shoulders and that's how we picked and pruned the trees. There were a lot of high climbs up those trees and I fell several times. My back's gone now."

Betty would also spray the orchards with a concoction of lead, arsenic and bluestone, driving two draught horses along the side of the trees as she sprayed.

Diagnosed with kidney cancer in her late 70s, her doctor said the lead was still in her system 60 years later.

"A lot of the women died from cancer," says Betty. "The stuff would spray all over us. But I'm doing OK now, I'm still hanging on to one kidney."

The average working week was 48 hours and the pay was 30 shillings, much lower than the men had been paid to do the same jobs. Not that anyone cared.

"In the end I loved it up there at Batlow, but it was so cold," she said. "There was no electricity and we would take it in turns to be on kitchen and wood duty. There were 20 women in our camp and it never seemed to worry us. We all chipped in and they treated me very well because I was the youngest of the group. Once we planted an entire orchard. We scrubbed the land and planted potatoes to start with and then we planted an orchard of apple trees. We were so proud of that."

Betty worked for the AWLA for three years, two years at Batlow and the other year on seasonal duties travelling around NSW from job to job.

"I worked on a poultry farm raising chickens for the American troops and boy were they fussy.

"It was very hard work hauling wet mash for miles and miles each day. The chickens would also fly at you and scratch you, which at first was a bit frightening."

Betty then worked on a dairy farm that grew tomatoes - milking the cows every morning and evening and tending the crops in between.

Once the tomatoes were picked and packed, she was sent off to Oberon to work on a sheep station and pick peas.

"Picking peas will give you the biggest back ache you'll ever have," Betty says.

"It was terrible and there were lots of big brown snakes around. But I really liked working in the shearing sheds because the boss' wife had to put on a morning tea and we'd have fresh cake."

Her next job was on a farm full of plum trees.

"You had to shake the tree and then kneel to pick them up.

"We were there for three months and it was a very pleasant experience. We did everything without complaint. We worked hard and we kept the farms going and the country fed. I'm very proud of that. I'm also proud of the many wonderful friends I made, the camaraderie between us was fantastic."

Each Saturday afternoon was their own and Betty would do her washing and write to her boyfriend Keith Foley, who was a soldier serving in Dutch New Guinea.

Then as a group they would walk the one hour to Batlow for an afternoon tea put on by one of the charities and then it was off to the pictures before walking back home in pitch darkness.

"We did that walk rain, hail or shine - we never missed it."

When the war ended in 1945 the girls were sent from Batlow by train to Sydney to join in the victory march. Betty was 20 and Dora 21. They then travelled home to Wollongong for some much-needed leave.

"Walking down Crown Street the day after the victory march it was deserted, there wasn't a soul except for two men in the distance and who should it be but Keith, my boyfriend. I hadn't seen him for 2½ years. He had been on leave when the war ended."

The pair married the following year and moved to Port Kembla, raising three children.

"I went to work at the Metal Manufactures and it was very hard for me to work indoors after farm life.

"The noise drove me crazy and I found it a very lonely time because I had been used to being surrounded by so many women and friends. It was hard to settle back in to a normal life. I also didn't know how to cook or look after a home, but then the babies came along fast and quick and I soon had to learn."

When the AWLA Association was established, Betty travelled to Sydney for meetings and reunions, keeping in regular contact with the friends she had made during the war.

The AWLA was disbanded in December 1945 prior to the government officially recognising it as a service. As a result, the women were not awarded the same benefits as members of other women's services.

They weren't allowed to march under their own banner on Anzac Day until the mid-80s and they were prohibited from joining the the RSL until the early 1990s. In 1997, after a Committee of Inquiry recommendation, they became eligible for the Civilian Service Medal.

"It was amazing to be able to march on Anzac Day finally," says Betty. "We looked so beautiful in our green blazers and cream skirts."

Then came official recognition in 2012.

After 27 years of lobbying, Prime Minister Julia Gillard formally thanked 99 members, including Betty Brown, in Canberra. The expression of gratitude was well received on the 70th anniversary of the formation of the AWLA. Each woman received a special broach and a certificate.

The association dissolved shortly after, with most of its members too old to attend meetings. They had won the battle, but age and time had caught up with them.

"Most of the women are a lot older than me," says Betty, who is now 89. "It was a special day of remembrance for us. I will never forget it. But it was a long time coming."

Betty won't march in today's Anzac Day march, but will travel to Sydney to spend the day with her family.

"It was wonderful marching while I could, but it's very emotional for me now," she said. "I find it very moving, so I've retired from marching. Instead I'll watch it on television with my family around me."