McKenzie, Florence Violet (1892 - 1982)

In 1924 Florence Wallace (as she was then known) became Australia's first certificated woman radio telegraphist and in 1924, the only woman member of the Wireless Institute of Australia. She was the founder and director of the Electrical Association for Women, established in 1934. In 1939 she founded and directed the Women's Emergency Signalling Corps, which later became the starting point for the Women's Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS). Rosemary Broomham wrote in the biography of Florence McKenzie in 200 Australian Women that altogether Mrs McKenzie trained over 10,000 servicemen in morse, visual signalling and international code, and she trained 3000 women, a third of whom went into the Services. On 8 June 1950 Florence McKenzie was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for her work with the Women's Emergency Signals Corps.

Founded by

• Electrical Association for Women

Membership

• Ex-Women's Royal Australian Naval Service (NSW) (1968 - )

  Honorary Member

Related Corporate Bodies

• Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) (1941 - 1947)

  Appointed by RAAF as an honorary flight officer of the WAAAF in appreciation of her services

  [1941 - ]

• Women's Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS) (1942 - 1984)

  On 28 April 1941 14 female wireless telegraphists trained by Florence McKenzie were enrolled into the Royal Australian Navy.

Australian Women Exhibitions

• Faith, Hope and Charity Australian Women and Imperial Honours: 1901-1989, Australian Women's Archives Project, March 2003, http://www.womenaustralia.info/exhib/honours/honours.html. [ Details... ]

Books

• McKenzie, F V (compiled by), Cookery book and electrical guide, 3rd edn, Association for Electrical Development, Sydney, 1940, 253 pp. [ Details... ]

Journal Articles

• 'Mrs Flornce Violet McKenzie (nee Wallace) OBE ASTC (Elec Eng) FAIN, "Mrs Mac" died peacefully in her sleep on Sunday evening, 23 May 1982, aged 90.', Ex-Wrans Ditty Box, June, 1982, pp. 1-11. [ Details... ]

See also

• Australian Dictionary of Biography Online, 2006, http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au. [ Details... ]
• Broomham, Rosemary, 'Florence Violet McKenzie', in Radi, Heather (ed.), 200 Australian women, Women's Redress Press Inc, Broadway (NSW), 1988, pp. 179-180. [ Details... ]
• Radi, Heather (ed.), 200 Australian Women: A Redress Anthology, Women's Redress Press, Sydney, 1988, 258 pp. (Also available at http://www.200australianwomen.com/) [ Details... ]
• Thomson, Joyce A, The WAAAF in Wartime Australia, Melbourne University Press, Carlton, Vic., 1992, 422 pp. [ Details... ]