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The WNEL was formed in September 1938 at a meeting in Brisbane chaired by Helen Ryan, who continued as the organisation's leader during the war.[1][2] At this meeting it was agreed that the WNEL would consist of a number of groups which would provide women with training in first aid, truck driving and other fields.[1] In March 1939 Ryan claimed that 1000 women were taking part in weekly training sessions run by the Legion. At this time the WNEL's first aid and home nursing unit had been divided into six sections and its transport unit was organised into several companies.[3] The WNEL was not part of the Australian military, but cooperated with the Department of Defence. In January 1939 the Sydney Morning Herald reported that only women of British ancestry were permitted to join the WNEL. At this time Dame Enid Lyons was the patron of the Legion and its advisory committee included the Premier of Queensland, Forgan Smith, and the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Alfred James Jones. The WNEL was also affiliated with the National Council of Women.[5] The Legion adopted a system of military ranks under which new recruits were designated privates, members in charge of a training function were lieutenants and the woman in charge of a branch had the title of 'commandant'.[6] From January 1939 the WNEL included an air wing which provided training in aircraft maintenance at Archerfield Aerodrome. This wing was led by Mary Bell, who was among Australia's first female pilots as well as the first Australian woman to qualify as a ground engineer. During July, Bell and the other members of the air wing left the Legion as they believed that the organisation would not help them to meet their objective to serve as aircraft maintainers during wartime; on the 17th of the month they formed the Women's Air Training Corps (WATC), and elected Bell its commander. By 1943 the WNEL included a Motor Transport Corps and clerical staff assigned to help United States military units in Australia. Women who volunteered for these roles could choose to not be posted outside of their home area.[2][17][18] At this time the WNEL's headquarters was located in Adelaide Street, Brisbane.[19] The WNEL was active as late as October 1947. Source: military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Women%27s_National_Emerg...

The advent of World War II in September 1939 prompted the government to proceed with the project, as wireless communication with the civilian population was an important aid to the war effort. The design of the transmission station fell to Alf Howard and Vernon Kenna. Kenna was the divisional engineer for the Commonwealth’s Post Master General’s (PMG) Department’s broadcast construction section. Construction of a transmitter building and its adjoining wireless mast commenced in late 1941. The mast was 76 meters in height. Bald Hills was seen as a strategic location for a transmission station, because its inland location plus the horizon, as seen from the ocean, would be considerably lower. In February 1942, the Bald Hills wireless station became operational after a 10 kW water-cooled, the short-wave transmitter was installed in the station building. To reduce the threat of a bombing raid, the smaller 4QR (also a medium wave station) transmitter (2 kW) in the Brisbane CBD was shut down and replaced by a homemade transmitter established behind Fischle’s jam factory in Roghan Road. This was a temporary stopgap measure undertaken until the move to Bald Hills was completed. The 4QR main transmitter was then removed and re-erected to the Bald Hills wireless station, where it was connected to a new mast. The station’s aerial array had been emplaced in the northwest corner of the former farm’s grounds. But fear of the station being a potential Japanese air raid target prompted many Bald Hill residents to express their concerns about the station’s location. In particular, the aerial mast was not camouflaged, standing in the middle of a cleared field and so it was easy to spot from the air. Experience learned from the 1940 Battle of Britain had shown these transmitter aerials were prime enemy bombing targets. Source: heritage.brisbane.qld.gov.au/heritage-places/219

Thank you for putting an open license on this image. I've added it to Wheatcroft's Wikipedia page. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Wheatcroft