Leila Joyce Granger, as Aircraftwoman, interviewed by Joyce Thomson

Leila Joyce Granger (SERN 109756) interviewed about her experiences as an aircraftwoman in the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF), 1943-1945.

Leila Granger was the oldest of three children in a grazier family. On completing her secondary education at Goulburn High School, she went to teach at two “subsidised” schools; this was a form of teacher-training utilised during the Second World War, whereby the school student’s parents provided the teacher with accommodation. Granger noted that in the country the general expectation was that would get a job and “stand on one’s own two feet” rather than take up further education and she was able to enjoy life and secondary school activities thanks to support from her parents.

When the war came, Granger remembers seeing the Snowy River men on their march to Sydney to enlist. As many country people enlisted, leaving gaps in the work force, at shearing time Granger worked for her father as a wool classer. When she decided to join one of the womens’ Services, she needed her father’s permission to join as she was only 18, which he reluctantly gave. She went to Sydney for an interview and a medical examination conducted by only male doctors which was, she notes, ‘an interesting experience’. After being called-up, she reported to Woolloomooloo, where she received injections, tests and an interview to determine her mustering – in this case, flight mechanic. She was sent on to work at the RAAF ward of Bradfield Park Hospital, where she was accommodated in a dormitory hut, learnt how to march and had lectures on the RAAF, Air Force law and aircraft recognition. She was there for about a fortnight before being sent on a troop train to Adelaide for flight mechanic training. In Adelaide she and other WAAAF were accommodated in the Pultney Street City Parking Station and ate and paraded in the Exhibition Building on North Terrace. Each day they would go to Goodwood by tram for technical training, which Granger enjoyed. The instructors were RAAF and were quite happy to instruct WAAAFs. For her advanced training she went to No. 1 Engineering School (1 ES) in Ascot Vale, Victoria, where they worked on Tiger Moths and other training aircraft in a Melbourne Showground. RAAF and WAAAF worked equally well together. Granger spent her spare time learning to ice-skate at the St Kilda Glaciarium, and at the cinema. She spent her first Christmas away from home with the family of another WAAAF.

In March 1943, Granger was posted to No. 5 Aircraft Depot, Forest Hill NSW (Wagga Wagga Airport), working firstly in the engine testing bay, and then the assembly bay to assemble and test clutch plates for Bristol Hercules engines. During one fortnight she worked 12 hours on, 12 hours off, testing Beaufort engines from aircraft from New Guinea, but was allowed extra days’ leave afterwards. In her free time, Granger enjoyed swimming in the Murrumbidgee River, tennis, hockey and shooting, when the AWARs at Kapooka challenged them to a shooting match. The Wagga Wagga townspeople were hospitable, providing dinner and extra food to take home.

Granger observed the low chance of promotion for WAAAF ACW Flight Mechanics, and that male mechanics qualified for Fitter would be paid more while qualified female mechanics were not; further that it was “unthinkable” that a WAAAF should tell a man what to do. Nevertheless Granger did apply for Fitter 2E training, being one of only two girls to do so for that course, and was returned to 1ES at Ascot Vale Showgrounds to do so. During this training she worked on engines with which she was already familiar, allowing her to top her course. On completion of the fitter’s course Granger was posted to 2 Air Park Depot, Richmond NSW where she worked on Mosquitos. The war finished, and realising she wanted to teach, which held better prospects, she applied for a job as a primary teacher at the local Presbyterian Ladies College. Once appointed she got her discharge from the WAAAF and started as a teacher, all within a very few days.

Granger reflected on her enjoyment of her WAAAF career, crediting it with teaching her tolerance and understanding about other people, and made enduring friendships.