Researching Mr & Mrs W E Gardner was never dull. One moment I was in the dangerous world of intrepid World War 1 pilots and the next I was barrelling along a speedway with glamorous lady racing drivers. In early 1918, Victoria Alice Guest married Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot William Edward Gardner in Kent, England. On his arrival in Australia in 1923 to join the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) he was a widower. Who was Victoria Alice Guest … Continue reading
Two million residents of Buenos Aries woke up on the cool Saturday morning of 6 September 1930 expecting to enjoy the weekend; stroll in the parks, hit the shops or hop on a tram to the beach. Early on it was plain this day was different. Aircraft buzzed overhead and the shoppers were soon outnumbered by armed protesters, as the squares and streets filled with angry mobs. The city dubbed the “Paris of South America” was about to be consumed … Continue reading
As another summer day dawned, exhausted Elizabeth lovingly attempted unsuccessfully, once again to entice her sister Harriett to take some medicine. During the long warm night, her patient had alternated between incoherent ravings and frightening stillness. For a moment, she locked eyes with Honora Stewart who had been helping nurse Harriet for the last four days, the women exchanging a thought neither wished to express. *** Born at the height of the Irish famine, Harriett Grant and her sister … Continue reading
