On Christmas Day 1945, twenty-four-year-old Coralee June Christie was a long way from home. Christie, from Vaucluse, had joined the Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force in November 1942 as a pay clerk. By the close of 1945, the Second World War was over, but many people were still on service, both here and overseas. Coralee was stationed at the RAAF Station at Garbutt, near Townsville in northern Queensland and far from her dearly loved parents back in Sydney. The menu for her Christmas Day lunch at the station was appropriate for the hot dry conditions up north, but also reflected the fact that wartime austerity and food rationing were still in place. Yet her day must have been a very meaningful one because she kept this frugal menu, together with many other mementos of her WAAAF service which lasted until June 1946. She later donated them to the Anzac Memorial for safekeeping.

Whatever is on your menu today - hot, cold or a bit of both, and for all those who you might be missing round the table this year, from all of us at the Anzac Memorial we hope your Christmas Day is the best one possible. Thank you for all your wonderful support this year and we wish you all the best for a safe and happy holiday season.

📸 Anzac Memorial Collection

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