Anne Curtis - Enlistment and war's outbreak

Transcript

I can remember that quite well, because I was on the jetty at Manly with friends. It was early in the evening, and we were ... Usually after a boat ride, so I used to be a keen sailor. I loved the water. I'm a Cancarian and so you can imagine I loved the water.

We were out there usually, and after we came in from sailing, we'd go out to the jetty, and we'd have just a few eats, and then we'd take off home. It was there that we heard the war had broken out. There was silence everywhere. We were wondering what was going to happen, what was ahead of us. That was the worst part because we had never been actually involved in any wars.

I joined the services. I was with a group of about 14. We were the first lot to join in Queensland. I joined the navy mainly because, as I say, I was a keen sailor. I was always on the water, and then I started to develop a friendship with this chap, my husband Colin. When he joined up, he joined up in the navy, and that's where the romance started.