Deasey, Maude (Kathleen) (1909 - 1968)

Kathleen Deasey was appointed assistant-controller Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS), Southern Command in November 1941. Prior to joining the AWAS, Deasey was lady superintendent at Melbourne's Ladies College, Melbourne. Following World War II, Deasey worked with the Department of Immigration, after which she studied at the Sorbonne, Paris. Later Deasey returned to teaching and was a senior tutor in education at the University of Melbourne and then became Principal of St Ann's College, University of Adelaide.

In November 1941 Deasey was appointed assistant-controller, Southern Command and was promoted to Major on 28 January 1942. Initially she established the service's structure in Victoria and then supervised the enlistment and training of recruits. In May 1943 she was transferred to First Army Headquarters, Toowoomba, Queensland as assistant-controller and later to the Australian Army Chaplains' Department, Land Headquarters, Melbourne.

In 1944 the Chaplains' Department published, Readings and Prayers for Members of the Army Women's Services, a booklet that Deasey compiled. After the war she represented the Australian Women's Army Service at the Victory march in London (1946) and then returned to Australia and drafted a history of the Service.

After being discharged from the army Deasey worked with the Department of Immigration, spent time studying at the Sorbonne, Paris, followed by administering an agency sponsorship scheme for the World Council of Churches. From 1960 to 1961 she was a senior tutor in education at the University of Melbourne and then became Principal of St Ann's College, University of Adelaide, until 1966. Returning to Melbourne in 1967, she joined the staff of Larnook Domestic Arts Teachers' College, Armadale.

Kathleen Deasey, who never married, died on 6 September 1968 and was buried in Boroondara cemetery, Kew.

Related Corporate Bodies

• Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) (1941 - 1947)

  Service number: V345001. Assistant controller

  [1941 - 1947]

Book Sections

• MacIntyre, Eileen, 'Deasey, Maude Kathleen', in Ritchie, John (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 13, Melbourne University Press, Carlton, Vic., pp. 601-602. [ Details... ]

Online Resources

• Department of Veterans' Affairs, 'DEASEY, MAUDE KATHLEEN', in World War 2 Nominal Roll, 2002, http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/script/veteran.asp?ServiceID=A&VeteranID=604369. [ Details... ]

See also

• Adam-Smith, Patsy, Australian women at war, Nelson, Melbourne, 1984, 386 pp. [ Details... ]
• Gillison, Joan M, A History of the Lyceum Club Melbourne, The Lyceum Club, Melbourne, 1975, 118 pp. [ Details... ]