Mabel Quakawoot is South Sea Islander and Aboriginal, she joined the Women’s Royal Australian Air Force (WRAAF) after working as a domestic servant and served in Signals, and her family also has an extensive history of service. Mabel left the WRAAF after she married and years later she worked in education, and started an ex-WRAAC association in Mackay and successfully pushed for a memorial to South Sea Islander military service in Mackay.

• Listen to Mabel’s interview in Mackay.