Army Wife
Alan and Jessie bought a house in Kew with a War Service Loan. Their first child, a son called George Halbert Vasey was born on 31 January 1925. A second son, Robert Alan, was born in 1932. Alan's military career was stagnant, and he remained a major for twenty years. It also forced a number of moves, and the family resided in India from 1928 to 1929 while Alan attended the Staff College at Quetta and again from 1934 from 1937 while he was on exchange with the British Indian Army. The Vaseys sold their house in Kew and Jessie even sold some of the period furniture that had been a wedding gift from her father to pay for expenses involved in the second posting to India.
After Alan was posted back to Melbourne in 1938, they bought a 5.65 Ha property at Wantirna, which they named 'Tiltargara', where they intended to retire. The house was a white weatherboard cottage with a wood stove and no sewage or electricity, requiring kerosene lamps but probably all that they could afford. Alan commuted to Army Headquarters at Victoria Barracks by bus.
Alan sailed for the Middle East in December 1939 as commander of the advance party of the division. Vasey became involved in the Australian Comforts Fund. In May 1940, she became secretary of the AIF Women's Association, a body which sought to help soldiers' wives. Her work with this body drew her attention to the plight of war widows. In a society built around couples, they were single, having lost not only their husbands but also their social status. As such, they were often rejected by their married female friends. Many found themselves facing the awesome responsibility of raising children without fathers. Some found themselves faced with having to make decisions independently for the first time in their lives. They also faced real financial hardships and a cold and seemingly uncaring government bureaucracy.
Alan was supportive of this work. "They come to me... time and time Jess," he told her in 1945, "especially before a show, and say: 'Sir, if anything happens to me you'll see that my wife and kids are all right?' And I tell them... yes, you know bloody well I will."
On 5 March 1945 - just a few days later - Alan was killed in an air crash near Cairns and Jessie became a war widow herself.
Read more about this topic: Jessie Vasey
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