'Maids of All Work'.1 Women, Voluntary Labour and Australian Red Cross VADs

Enid Singleton, from Belmore in Sydney's southern suburbs,joined the Marrickville Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) in 1958. As was commonplace for young women of her generation, she had left school at fifteen and secured a good job at the Sydney County Council (SCC) as a cashier. However, she had always wanted to be a nurse so she decided to join her local VAD at Marrickville and become a voluntary, untrained 'nurse' in her spare time. Every Monday night, Enid travelled from her home in Belmore to Marrickville on the' 412' bus to attend classes. For six years, until 1964 when she married and gave up both her paid and unpaid work (and arguably took on more 'work' in the form of housewife and mother), Enid worked at Marrickville hospital, Callen Park (Rozelle hospital), and Canterbury hospital. Her VA duties included serving afternoon tea to exservicemen patients at Callen Park; assisting nurses at Marrickville hospital with their ward duties; and handing out books and reading material to patients from the Red Cross library at Canterbury hospital. All her voluntary work and training was carried out either in the evenings or on weekends.2 For Enid, when reflecting on both her paid work at the SCC and her unpaid work as a VA, her memories of her VA work were especially poignant, not only in terms ofthe work but camaraderie and lasting friendship with other VAs.3