06/06/2026
D-DAY - TODAY WE HONOR THE WOMEN WHO SERVED
6 June 1944. D-Day. 82 years ago today.
LEST WE FORGET
Five thousand ships. Ten thousand aircraft. 130,000 troops on five beaches. The liberation of Western Europe had begun — and around 3,200 Australians were part of it, mostly in the air. Thirteen were killed on that single day.
While the world watched Normandy, five Maleny-born men were serving Australia in the Pacific — John Ross Skerman (Intelligence Corps, Brisbane), William Winning (anti-aircraft, New Guinea), Terence Hunt (paratrooper training), Alan Webster (Volunteer Defence Corps, Queensland coast) and Ian Martin (Citizen Military Forces).
BUT TODAY WE HONOR THE WOMEN WHO SERVED
Fifty thousand Australian women put on a uniform in World War II. They nursed, flew, signalled, drove, administered, and held together the infrastructure of a nation at war.
They served in the AANS, the AWAS, the WAAAF, the WRANS — across Australia, the Middle East, and the Pacific. They contracted malaria and dengue fever in New Guinea jungles. They worked in field hospitals under fire. They kept men alive who would otherwise have died.
Their names belong on every honour board. Most of them aren't there.
One of those women was from Maleny.
Lieutenant Marjorie Garcia Webster.
Australian Army Nursing Service.
Service No. QX43174.
"Yaralla", Maleny, Queensland.
Marjorie enlisted on 20 January 1942. She was a trained nurse, 26 years old, living at the family property in Maleny. Six weeks after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, she volunteered for the AIF.
She was posted to the 106th Australian Casualty Clearing Station and in November 1943 flew into New Guinea — one of the most brutal theatres of the Pacific war. She rotated between field hospitals and casualty clearing stations, caring for the wounded in jungle heat, far from home.
The war cost her dearly:
— February 1944 — evacuated with severe dengue fever
— November 1944 — evacuated with malaria, transferred to Margate Convalescent Home to recover
Both times, she returned to duty.
She was promoted to Lieutenant in March 1943 and kept serving after the war ended — posted to military hospitals in Brisbane and Heidelberg through 1946, 1947 and into 1948.
Six years and six months. Dengue fever. Malaria. New Guinea. And she never stopped.
Her brother Alan served alongside her in spirit — a Maleny dairy farmer in the Volunteer Defence Corps, defending Queensland's coast. A Maleny family, both in uniform, both serving.
Marjorie earned the 1939/45 Star, the Pacific Star, the War Medal 1939/45 and the Australia Service Medal.
She is honoured on the Caloundra Shire of Landsborough WWII Roll of Honour.
Today, on the anniversary of D-Day, we remember Marjorie Garcia Webster — and every Australian woman who served.
Their contribution was equal. Their sacrifice was real.
Lest We Forget. 🎖️
📍 Maleny RSL Sub-Branch | 1 Bunya Street, Maleny QLD 4552
☎ 0438 403 624 | rslmaleny.org.au
All service members join FREE.
Do you have a family connection to Marjorie or Alan Webster?
Drop a comment or come and see us at the Hall.
