- Marie trained as a nurse in Sydney before joining the RAAF during WWII.
- She cared for injured and traumatised servicemen at Concord Repatriation Hospital.
- There she met Ian, a returned tail gunner suffering PTSD, who soon proposed.
- Now 105, Marie reflects on their life together and her proud legacy of service.
Here Marie Kirby, 105, tells her own story in her own words.
Running my hands over the black and white photo in the album, it felt just like yesterday that Ian and I had married.
‘You looked beautiful, Mum,’ my daughter, Ros, said over a cuppa in my room at Regis Aged care in Gatton, Qld.
Ian, a returned soldier, and I had met just weeks before we tied the knot, when I nursed him back to health after the stress of being a tail gunner.
I started my nursing studies at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney aged 17 in 1937. Working in the ear, nose and throat wing, I learned so much.
Following in the footsteps of my mother, a nurse in Leeton, NSW, I’d spent my youth hearing stories of how she’d helped people.
I want to be just like her, I thought.
No matter the chaos, I had one mantra.
‘ there were all sorts of injuries from loss of limbs, bullet and bomb wounds, and of course lots of mental health issues’
Do everything well, I’d remind myself as I tended to patients, changing bandages and bedpans.
World War II began on September 1, 1939.
I joined the Royal Australian Air Force in August 1944, nursing wounded servicemen back to health at the Concord Repatriation Hospital.
Each day I’d put on my uniform, a stiff below the knee-length pale blue pinafore with buttons and a cap.
Walking down the long corridors filled with beds, there were all sorts of injuries from loss of limbs, bullet and bomb wounds, and of course lots of mental health issues.
Many of the men reminded me of my father, Reg. He’d served in World War I as a foot soldier.
I’d been born three years after Dad’s return from the frontline – but Mum said he’d never been quite the same after the horrific sights he’d seen.
It was wonderful to talk to the soldiers. Some of them no more than teenagers, their stories often broke my heart.
One day when I was 24, I met Ian Kirkby, also 24. He’d been sent home from the front with PTSD.
Ian told me he’d served four years as a tail gunner with the RAAF and been deployed in England, Scotland and Cairo.
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‘Thank you for your service,’ I told him.
As I cared for him, he’d tell me many stories of the things he’d seen on the frontlines. He was gentle, kind and very clever and, before long, I found myself spending a little extra time at his bedside.
Three weeks later, from his hospital bed, I was surprised when he asked me on a date!
‘Could I take you out sometime?’ he asked, his blue eyes sparkling.
I blushed. ‘Let’s focus on getting you well,’ I replied.
But he was persistent and three weeks later he proposed. ‘Marie, will you marry me?’ he asked.
‘I was surprised when he asked me on a date!’
Of course I wanted to say yes! But if we wed, I’d have to leave nursing, as married women didn’t nurse in those days and I had a job to do.
‘No way am I marrying you until the war is over!’ I replied with a laugh.
Well, as luck would have it, Ian didn’t have to wait long – WWII ended only a few weeks later on September 2, 1945.
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We were both discharged from the Air Force on November 13, 1945.
The following month, we married at a church in Sydney.
I wore a white lace dress with ruffles, flowers in my hair and a long veil. Ian looked handsome in his military uniform. I still think of that day fondly.
After we married, we welcomed a baby girl, Ros, and Ian doted on her.
We ran a newsagency at Kings Cross then, ready for a new adventure, we moved to a 12,000 acre property at Uralla, NSW, farming sheep and cattle.
‘You’re the love of my life,’ I told Ian often.
I was heartbroken when he passed on June 1, 2007, aged 86, after a short illness.
I moved to the Lockyer Valley to live with Ros and her husband Malcolm.
‘‘You’re the love of my life,’ I told Ian often’
To keep busy and give back, I volunteered at Legacy, connecting with the community hosting morning teas to support veterans and their families.
I made the decision to move into Regis Aged care in Gatton in July 2023, aged 102. I settled right in making plenty of friends.
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This February, I celebrated my 105th birthday in the function room there with family, friends and representatives from Legacy and RSL Queensland.
I was thrilled to be presented with a WWII service certificate and a medallion for the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Pacific. I know Ian would be proud.
‘I don’t feel 105!’ I told Ros, as I blew out the candles on my cake.
Everyone wants to know the secret to my long life – I put it down to a healthy diet and staying busy.
Up until I was 101, I still had my driver’s licence and went dancing at the local halls once a week.
When I think back on my nursing career I still feel so proud of all the work I did, and the soldiers I helped – of course the most important was Ian, who I miss everyday.
When I flip through my photo book I remember our adventures.
If I’ve learned anything in life it’s that while it can be hard, you’ll always find joy.
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