Clare Stevenson
Encyclopedia
Clare Grant Stevenson AM
, MBE
(18 July 1903 – 22 October 1988) was the inaugural Director of the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force
(WAAAF). As such, she has been described as "the most significant woman in the history of the Air Force". Formed as a branch of the Royal Australian Air Force
(RAAF) in 1941, the WAAAF was the first and largest uniformed women's service in Australia during World War II
, numbering more than 18,000 members by late 1944 and making up over thirty per cent of RAAF ground staff.
Born and educated in Victoria
, Stevenson was an executive with the Berlei
company when she was appointed Director of the WAAAF. Initially ranked Squadron Officer
, she rose to become Group Officer
by 1942. Stevenson resumed her civilian career following her discharge from the Air Force in 1946. Long active in education and social welfare, she helped form aid organisations including the Carers Association of New South Wales (now Carers NSW) after retiring from Berlei in 1960. Stevenson was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire
and a Member of the Order of Australia
for her services to the community and to female veterans.
, Victoria
, Clare Stevenson was the fifth of six children. When she was four her family moved to Essendon
, where she attended Winstow Girls' Grammar School
and Essendon High School, completing her intermediate and leaving certificates. In 1922, she was admitted to the Faculty of Science at the University of Melbourne
, but switched to education after failing chemistry
in her final year. A hockey
blue, Stevenson was active in a number of campus groups, including the Students' Representative Council and the Science Club. She became President of the Committee of Melbourne University Women, and graduated in 1925 with a Diploma of Education
.
Stevenson commenced her working life with the YWCA
in 1926. A strong advocate of continuing education, during her first two years with the association she organised night classes for workers in Sydney
, before becoming General Secretary of the Rockhampton
branch from 1929 to 1931. In 1932 she took up a position as a training and research officer at Berlei
, and from 1935 to 1939 represented the company in London
as a senior executive. Stevenson was based in Sydney when World War II
broke out, in charge of product research and the training of sales staff.
Late in 1940, Stevenson was nominated to be the first Director of the planned Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force
(WAAAF). Although keen to support the war effort in some capacity, she demurred due to the administrative and social obstacles she foresaw in the role. However her appointment went ahead regardless on 21 May 1941. The Air Member for Personnel, Air Vice Marshal Henry Wrigley
, had recommended Stevenson on the basis of her management background and because she was not a "socialite". Despite her initial misgivings, Stevenson decided not to fight the appointment, which took effect on 9 June.
Established on 25 March 1941 in response to lobbying by women wanting to serve in the war, and to free more male ground crew for overseas postings, the WAAAF was the first uniformed women's branch of an armed service in Australia, predating similar organisations in the Army
and Navy
. Fewer than two hundred personnel had been recruited when Stevenson became Director in June; this number would grow to around a thousand by the end of the year. For the first three months of its existence the WAAAF had been under the temporary command of Flight Officer
Mary Bell
, wife of an RAAF Group Captain and former Australian Commandant of the Women's Air Training Corps, an organisation of female pilots and ground staff that had been formed in 1939 and had been providing voluntary support to the Air Force. Bell chose to resign on learning of Stevenson's appointment, rather than stay on as Deputy Director and report to someone from outside the service fraternity; she later rejoined on the condition that she would receive no promotion higher than Flight Officer.
In her role as Director, Stevenson was responsible for training, morale and welfare of all WAAAF staff. Philosophically committed to equal opportunity regardless of gender and social background, from the outset she had to deal with discrimination by government authorities, many of whom had been against the creation of such a service. One-time Minister for Defence
, Harold Thorby
, declared that "aviation takes women out of their natural environment, the home and the training of the family", and various senior Air Force officers, including the 'Father of the RAAF', Air Marshal
Richard Williams, and the Director of Personnel Services, Group Captain Joe Hewitt
, also fought the proposal. The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal
Sir Charles Burnett
, a Royal Air Force
commander who appreciated how the Women's Auxiliary Air Force
(WAAF) had proved itself during the Battle of Britain
in 1940, supported its establishment but lost some interest after his preferred choice as Director, his daughter Sybil-Jean, a serving WAAF officer, was ruled out. The Federal government decreed that WAAAF staff would be paid two-thirds of what a male doing the equivalent trade received, while their right of appeal in disciplinary matters and the deference shown to their rank was more comparable to that of "uniformed civilians" than to servicemen. Women were at first enrolled for renewable twelve-month periods rather than enlisted as permanent staff; only in 1943 did the WAAAF become part of the Permanent Air Force.
Stevenson considered housing, uniforms, and recruit training as her first priorities after taking up her appointment. She said that on arriving at No. 1 WAAAF Depot in Malvern, Victoria
, she was "shattered at the prison-like atmosphere of the place". She drew on her retail experience to both organise the WAAAF and design its uniform
. Stevenson was promoted to Wing Officer
in September 1941, and Group Officer
in April 1942, which was to be the highest rank attained by a serving WAAAF member. She took an active interest in recruitment, her liberal social outlook evinced by her determination that single women with children should not be barred from entry to the WAAAF. In order to establish high standards, Stevenson personally interviewed all WAAAF officer trainees and briefed as many of her officers as was possible before they were posted to a new job. She also worked to maintain the morale of personnel, encouraging officers to attend group leadership courses and organise leisure and sporting activities for their staff. Colonel
Sybil Irving
, head of the Australian Women's Army Service
, later declared that Stevenson "did the most pertinent pioneering work" in gaining acceptance for women in the armed forces.
Early in 1943 a policy change was mooted to remove female officers from the technical musterings they had so far filled in the WAAAF, and substitute male officers in these roles. In opposing this, Stevenson went around the new Air Member for Personnel, Air Commodore
Frank Lukis
, and wrote directly to the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff, Air Commodore John McCauley
. She told McCauley, "I contend that it is a waste of money and training to take women cipher
officers, women from Signals (S4) and casualty ... when they have learnt their work and substitute these women by men who have to learn the job", and recommended that he direct the Air Member for Personnel to ensure that female officers continued to be employed in technical positions, and not simply for administration and welfare. McCauley agreed with Stevenson but Lukis appealed to the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal George Jones
. Jones backed Lukis' authority, and the latter sent a "stinging rebuke" to Stevenson, who was forced to apologize. In the event, women officers continued to be employed in technical positions as the WAAAF expanded over the next two years, peaking in strength at 18,667 members in October 1944. By the end of the war a total of 27,000 women had served in the WAAAF, comprising some thirty-one per cent of Air Force ground staff and filling sixty-one trades, all previously occupied by men.
Stevenson continued to lead the WAAAF following the cessation of hostilities, retiring on medical grounds on 22 March 1946. Suffering reduced muscle function in her left arm and pain on the left side of her face and neck, she was diagnosed with brachial neuritis, traced to typhus
, tetanus
and smallpox
injections
received the previous May in preparation for a proposed visit to Manila
that never eventuated. In her last annual address to the WAAAF as its Director, Stevenson encouraged its members to make use of their service experience when they returned to civilian life:
Presented with a jewelled brooch as a farewell gift by her fellow officers, Stevenson asked that its value instead be put towards a scholarship for an ex-WAAAF member to study social work at the University of Sydney
. The WAAAF itself, the first and largest of Australia's wartime women's services, was disbanded on 30 September 1946. It was succeeded in 1950 by a new organisation with a separate charter to the RAAF, the Women's Royal Australian Air Force
(WRAAF).
Following her discharge from the WAAAF, Stevenson resumed her career as a senior executive with Berlei, and remained with the company until her retirement in 1960. Parallel to her work at Berlei, she was a Trustee of the Services Canteens Trust Fund in Melbourne
, maintaining her links with the organisation for the next forty years. A founding patron of the Council of Ex-Servicewomen's Associations, Stevenson was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire
in the 1960 Queen's Birthday Honours
for her welfare work on behalf of female veterans. She helped set up the Scholarship Trust Fund for Civilian Widows' Children in 1963, and was a Research Officer with the New South Wales Council on the Ageing (COTA) from 1969 to 1978. In 1975, Stevenson was involved in establishing the Kings Cross Community Aid and Information Service, serving for a time as its President and as a member of the Management Committee until 1987.
Stevenson founded the Carers Association of New South Wales, and became its first President, in 1980. While serving with COTA in 1974, she had prepared a report titled "Dedication" concerning the levels of assistance given to the elderly by their family and friends. This led to her forming a subcommittee of COTA made up of those she called 'carers'
in 1976, from which she later created the Carers Association as an independent organisation. As president of the association, Stevenson lobbied for the establishment of a Carers Pension in New South Wales, which was legislated in 1985. She is commemorated at the Carers Association (now Carers NSW) by the Clare Stevenson Memorial Lectures.
In 1984 Stevenson, together with Honor Darling, published The W.A.A.A.F. Book, a collection of reminiscences by former members of the service. Stevenson was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia
in the 1988 Australia Day Honours for her services to the community and her welfare work with veterans. Her hobbies included reading, classical music
and, in her younger days, surfing
. Unmarried, Clare Stevenson died in Sydney on 22 October 1988.
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
, MBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(18 July 1903 – 22 October 1988) was the inaugural Director of the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force
Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force
The Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force was formed in March 1941 after considerable lobbying by women keen to serve and by the Chief of the Air Staff who wanted to release male personnel serving in Australia for service overseas. The WAAAF was the first and largest of the World War II...
(WAAAF). As such, she has been described as "the most significant woman in the history of the Air Force". Formed as a branch of the Royal Australian Air Force
Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
(RAAF) in 1941, the WAAAF was the first and largest uniformed women's service in Australia during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, numbering more than 18,000 members by late 1944 and making up over thirty per cent of RAAF ground staff.
Born and educated in Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Stevenson was an executive with the Berlei
Berlei
Berlei is a brand of women's lingerie and in particular bras and girdles.-History:The brand originated in Australia in 1917. Berlei undergarments are now sold in Australia by Pacific Brands and in the United Kingdom by Courtaulds Textiles....
company when she was appointed Director of the WAAAF. Initially ranked Squadron Officer
Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...
, she rose to become Group Officer
Group Captain
Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks above wing commander and immediately below air commodore...
by 1942. Stevenson resumed her civilian career following her discharge from the Air Force in 1946. Long active in education and social welfare, she helped form aid organisations including the Carers Association of New South Wales (now Carers NSW) after retiring from Berlei in 1960. Stevenson was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
and a Member of the Order of Australia
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
for her services to the community and to female veterans.
Education and early career
Born in WangarattaWangaratta, Victoria
Wangaratta is a cathedral city of almost 17,000 people in the northeast of Victoria, Australia, about from Melbourne along the Hume Highway, with Benalla to the southwest, and Albury-Wodonga to the northeast. It is located at the junction of the Ovens and King rivers which flow from the...
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Clare Stevenson was the fifth of six children. When she was four her family moved to Essendon
Essendon, Victoria
Essendon is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moonee Valley...
, where she attended Winstow Girls' Grammar School
Lowther Hall Anglican Grammar School
Lowther Hall Anglican Grammar School, most often referred to simply as Lowther Hall, is an independent, Anglican, day school for girls, located in Essendon, an inner suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
and Essendon High School, completing her intermediate and leaving certificates. In 1922, she was admitted to the Faculty of Science at the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
, but switched to education after failing chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
in her final year. A hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
blue, Stevenson was active in a number of campus groups, including the Students' Representative Council and the Science Club. She became President of the Committee of Melbourne University Women, and graduated in 1925 with a Diploma of Education
Diploma of Education
The Diploma of Education, often abbreviated to DipEd or GradDipEd, is a postgraduate qualification offered in many Commonwealth countries including Australia, Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom...
.
Stevenson commenced her working life with the YWCA
World YWCA
The World YWCA is the umbrella organization of the global network of the YWCA, a movement of women working for social and economic change around the world. It advocates for young women’s leadership, peace, justice, human rights and sustainable development, both on a grassroots and global scale...
in 1926. A strong advocate of continuing education, during her first two years with the association she organised night classes for workers in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, before becoming General Secretary of the Rockhampton
Rockhampton, Queensland
Rockhampton is a city and local government area in Queensland, Australia. The city lies on the Fitzroy River, approximately from the river mouth, and some north of the state capital, Brisbane....
branch from 1929 to 1931. In 1932 she took up a position as a training and research officer at Berlei
Berlei
Berlei is a brand of women's lingerie and in particular bras and girdles.-History:The brand originated in Australia in 1917. Berlei undergarments are now sold in Australia by Pacific Brands and in the United Kingdom by Courtaulds Textiles....
, and from 1935 to 1939 represented the company in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
as a senior executive. Stevenson was based in Sydney when World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
broke out, in charge of product research and the training of sales staff.
Appointment
Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force
The Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force was formed in March 1941 after considerable lobbying by women keen to serve and by the Chief of the Air Staff who wanted to release male personnel serving in Australia for service overseas. The WAAAF was the first and largest of the World War II...
(WAAAF). Although keen to support the war effort in some capacity, she demurred due to the administrative and social obstacles she foresaw in the role. However her appointment went ahead regardless on 21 May 1941. The Air Member for Personnel, Air Vice Marshal Henry Wrigley
Henry Wrigley
Air Vice Marshal Henry Neilson Wrigley CBE, DFC, AFC was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force . A pioneer aviator and theorist, he piloted the first trans-Australia flight from Melbourne to Darwin in 1919, and subsequently laid the groundwork for the RAAF's air power doctrine...
, had recommended Stevenson on the basis of her management background and because she was not a "socialite". Despite her initial misgivings, Stevenson decided not to fight the appointment, which took effect on 9 June.
Established on 25 March 1941 in response to lobbying by women wanting to serve in the war, and to free more male ground crew for overseas postings, the WAAAF was the first uniformed women's branch of an armed service in Australia, predating similar organisations in the Army
Australian Army
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
and Navy
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
. Fewer than two hundred personnel had been recruited when Stevenson became Director in June; this number would grow to around a thousand by the end of the year. For the first three months of its existence the WAAAF had been under the temporary command of Flight Officer
Flight Lieutenant
Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many Commonwealth countries. It ranks above flying officer and immediately below squadron leader. The name of the rank is the complete phrase; it is never shortened to "lieutenant"...
Mary Bell
Mary Bell (aviator)
Mary Teston Luis Bell was an Australian aviator and founding leader of the Women's Air Training Corps , a volunteer organisation that provided support to the Royal Australian Air Force during World War II...
, wife of an RAAF Group Captain and former Australian Commandant of the Women's Air Training Corps, an organisation of female pilots and ground staff that had been formed in 1939 and had been providing voluntary support to the Air Force. Bell chose to resign on learning of Stevenson's appointment, rather than stay on as Deputy Director and report to someone from outside the service fraternity; she later rejoined on the condition that she would receive no promotion higher than Flight Officer.
Early challenges
Minister for Defence (Australia)
The Minister for Defence of Australia administers his portfolio through the Australian Defence Organisation, which comprises the Department of Defence and the Australian Defence Force. Stephen Smith is the current Minister.-Ministers for Defence:...
, Harold Thorby
Harold Thorby
Harold Victor Campbell Thorby was an Australian politician and government minister.-Early life:Thorby was born in the Sydney suburb of Annandale and was educated at Geurie Public School and Sydney Grammar School and worked on his grandparents' farm at Geurie. He studied woolclassing, veterinary...
, declared that "aviation takes women out of their natural environment, the home and the training of the family", and various senior Air Force officers, including the 'Father of the RAAF', Air Marshal
Air Marshal
Air marshal is a three-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...
Richard Williams, and the Director of Personnel Services, Group Captain Joe Hewitt
Joe Hewitt (RAAF officer)
Air Vice Marshal Joseph Eric Hewitt, CBE was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force...
, also fought the proposal. The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal
Air Chief Marshal
Air chief marshal is a senior 4-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...
Sir Charles Burnett
Charles Burnett (RAF officer)
Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Stuart Burnett KCB, CBE, DSO was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force during the first half of the 20th century. During the Second World War, he served as Chief of the Air Staff of the Royal Australian Air Force.-Early life:Charles Burnett was born in Browns...
, a Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
commander who appreciated how the Women's Auxiliary Air Force
Women's Auxiliary Air Force
The Women's Auxiliary Air Force , whose members were invariably referred to as Waafs , was the female auxiliary of the Royal Air Force during World War II, established in 1939. At its peak strength, in 1943, WAAF numbers exceeded 180,000, with over 2,000 women enlisting per week.A Women's Royal Air...
(WAAF) had proved itself during the Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
in 1940, supported its establishment but lost some interest after his preferred choice as Director, his daughter Sybil-Jean, a serving WAAF officer, was ruled out. The Federal government decreed that WAAAF staff would be paid two-thirds of what a male doing the equivalent trade received, while their right of appeal in disciplinary matters and the deference shown to their rank was more comparable to that of "uniformed civilians" than to servicemen. Women were at first enrolled for renewable twelve-month periods rather than enlisted as permanent staff; only in 1943 did the WAAAF become part of the Permanent Air Force.
Stevenson considered housing, uniforms, and recruit training as her first priorities after taking up her appointment. She said that on arriving at No. 1 WAAAF Depot in Malvern, Victoria
Malvern, Victoria
Malvern is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stonnington. At the 2006 Census, Malvern had a population of 9,422.-History:...
, she was "shattered at the prison-like atmosphere of the place". She drew on her retail experience to both organise the WAAAF and design its uniform
Military uniform
Military uniforms comprises standardised dress worn by members of the armed forces and paramilitaries of various nations. Military dress and military styles have gone through great changes over the centuries from colourful and elaborate to extremely utilitarian...
. Stevenson was promoted to Wing Officer
Wing Commander (rank)
Wing commander is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries...
in September 1941, and Group Officer
Group Captain
Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks above wing commander and immediately below air commodore...
in April 1942, which was to be the highest rank attained by a serving WAAAF member. She took an active interest in recruitment, her liberal social outlook evinced by her determination that single women with children should not be barred from entry to the WAAAF. In order to establish high standards, Stevenson personally interviewed all WAAAF officer trainees and briefed as many of her officers as was possible before they were posted to a new job. She also worked to maintain the morale of personnel, encouraging officers to attend group leadership courses and organise leisure and sporting activities for their staff. Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Sybil Irving
Sybil Irving
Sybil Howy Irving MBE was the founder and controller of the Australian Women's Army Service during World War II. She served in this position from 1941 to 1946 and was active in charity and social organisations until she was aged 74.-Social work:Irving was born on 25 February 1897 at Victoria...
, head of the Australian Women's Army Service
Australian Women's Army Service
The Australian Women's Army Service or "AWAS" was a women's service established on 13 August 1941 to "release men from certain military duties for employment in fighting units".-Formation / Structure:...
, later declared that Stevenson "did the most pertinent pioneering work" in gaining acceptance for women in the armed forces.
Later service
Air Commodore
Air commodore is an air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...
Frank Lukis
Frank Lukis
Air Commodore Francis William Fellowes Lukis, CBE was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force . A veteran of World War I, he first saw combat as a soldier in the Australian Imperial Force at Gallipoli...
, and wrote directly to the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff, Air Commodore John McCauley
John McCauley (RAAF officer)
Air Marshal Sir John Patrick Joseph McCauley, KBE, CB was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force . He served as Chief of the Air Staff from 1954 to 1957. A Duntroon graduate, McCauley spent four years in the Australian Military Forces before transferring to the RAAF in 1924...
. She told McCauley, "I contend that it is a waste of money and training to take women cipher
Cipher
In cryptography, a cipher is an algorithm for performing encryption or decryption — a series of well-defined steps that can be followed as a procedure. An alternative, less common term is encipherment. In non-technical usage, a “cipher” is the same thing as a “code”; however, the concepts...
officers, women from Signals (S4) and casualty ... when they have learnt their work and substitute these women by men who have to learn the job", and recommended that he direct the Air Member for Personnel to ensure that female officers continued to be employed in technical positions, and not simply for administration and welfare. McCauley agreed with Stevenson but Lukis appealed to the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal George Jones
George Jones (RAAF officer)
Air Marshal Sir George Jones KBE, CB, DFC was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force . He rose from private soldier in World War I to Air Marshal in 1948, and served as Chief of the Air Staff from 1942 to 1952, the longest continuous tenure of any RAAF chief...
. Jones backed Lukis' authority, and the latter sent a "stinging rebuke" to Stevenson, who was forced to apologize. In the event, women officers continued to be employed in technical positions as the WAAAF expanded over the next two years, peaking in strength at 18,667 members in October 1944. By the end of the war a total of 27,000 women had served in the WAAAF, comprising some thirty-one per cent of Air Force ground staff and filling sixty-one trades, all previously occupied by men.
Stevenson continued to lead the WAAAF following the cessation of hostilities, retiring on medical grounds on 22 March 1946. Suffering reduced muscle function in her left arm and pain on the left side of her face and neck, she was diagnosed with brachial neuritis, traced to typhus
Typhus
Epidemic typhus is a form of typhus so named because the disease often causes epidemics following wars and natural disasters...
, tetanus
Tetanus
Tetanus is a medical condition characterized by a prolonged contraction of skeletal muscle fibers. The primary symptoms are caused by tetanospasmin, a neurotoxin produced by the Gram-positive, rod-shaped, obligate anaerobic bacterium Clostridium tetani...
and smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
injections
Vaccination
Vaccination is the administration of antigenic material to stimulate the immune system of an individual to develop adaptive immunity to a disease. Vaccines can prevent or ameliorate the effects of infection by many pathogens...
received the previous May in preparation for a proposed visit to Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
that never eventuated. In her last annual address to the WAAAF as its Director, Stevenson encouraged its members to make use of their service experience when they returned to civilian life:
Presented with a jewelled brooch as a farewell gift by her fellow officers, Stevenson asked that its value instead be put towards a scholarship for an ex-WAAAF member to study social work at the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
. The WAAAF itself, the first and largest of Australia's wartime women's services, was disbanded on 30 September 1946. It was succeeded in 1950 by a new organisation with a separate charter to the RAAF, the Women's Royal Australian Air Force
Women's Royal Australian Air Force
The Women's Royal Australian Air Force was formed in 1950, after the success of women serving in the Air Forces had been demonstrated by the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force . The first recruits began training on 30 January 1951. In 1972, the service achieved a pay scale equal to the male...
(WRAAF).
Post-war work and legacy
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, maintaining her links with the organisation for the next forty years. A founding patron of the Council of Ex-Servicewomen's Associations, Stevenson was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in the 1960 Queen's Birthday Honours
Queen's Birthday Honours
The Queen's Birthday Honours is a part of the British honours system, being a civic occasion on the celebration of the Queen's Official Birthday in which new members of most Commonwealth Realms honours are named. The awards are presented by the reigning monarch or head of state, currently Queen...
for her welfare work on behalf of female veterans. She helped set up the Scholarship Trust Fund for Civilian Widows' Children in 1963, and was a Research Officer with the New South Wales Council on the Ageing (COTA) from 1969 to 1978. In 1975, Stevenson was involved in establishing the Kings Cross Community Aid and Information Service, serving for a time as its President and as a member of the Management Committee until 1987.
Stevenson founded the Carers Association of New South Wales, and became its first President, in 1980. While serving with COTA in 1974, she had prepared a report titled "Dedication" concerning the levels of assistance given to the elderly by their family and friends. This led to her forming a subcommittee of COTA made up of those she called 'carers'
Caregiver
Caregiver may refer to:* Caregiver or carer - an unpaid person who cares for someone requiring support due to a disability, frailty, mental health problem, learning disability or old age...
in 1976, from which she later created the Carers Association as an independent organisation. As president of the association, Stevenson lobbied for the establishment of a Carers Pension in New South Wales, which was legislated in 1985. She is commemorated at the Carers Association (now Carers NSW) by the Clare Stevenson Memorial Lectures.
In 1984 Stevenson, together with Honor Darling, published The W.A.A.A.F. Book, a collection of reminiscences by former members of the service. Stevenson was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
in the 1988 Australia Day Honours for her services to the community and her welfare work with veterans. Her hobbies included reading, classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
and, in her younger days, surfing
Surfing
Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...
. Unmarried, Clare Stevenson died in Sydney on 22 October 1988.