Nancy Metcalfe

Canberra resident with memories of old Acton
Born: Peterborough, South Australia in 1921
Maiden Name: Nancy Ward
Interview: With husband Ron Metcalfe, December 2013

“I was Nancy Helen Ward and I’m now Nancy Helen Metcalfe (married to Ron Metcalfe). I came from a little country town in South Australia. I went to Business College in Adelaide and studied shorthand, staying in a little boarding house. I quite enjoyed that. Then the War started and I applied for a job in the navy, which I got and began work in Adelaide there as a shorthand typist. I was encouraged by an older woman to do a short course that would help me get a more permanent job (with superannuation – which I had no idea about!). I then got appointed to Canberra. I said, ‘Oh, where's Canberra?’ Nobody knew where Canberra was. I said to this older woman, ‘What do think about this place, Canberra?’ She said ‘Well, I believe there's not many people, but you can go further with your job’.

I took her advice and got a train ticket, and all the family came to see me off - going to this unknown place. It took me two nights by train with lots of changes. When I got here, I thought, ‘It's all countryside, there's no big city’. We stopped and people were getting out, and I said ‘Excuse me, what place is this?’ and they said ‘Canberra’. I’ll never forget it - my heart went bang! I thought ‘Canberra- there's no sight of anything!’ There was a young fellow to meet me and take me to Gorman House. There were about one hundred girls there. I walked to my job in West block until I managed to get a bike.

I can distinctly remember my first day on the job. I had to go upstairs and meet the big boss Mr Swan. He said, ‘So you’re Nancy Ward’, I said yes. ‘Well’, he said ‘Nancy, you’re going to be a very busy girl in this job of yours, and it's very secret, so I want you to promise something.’ He reached up and he got the Bible and he said ‘give me your nice little hand, put your hand on here, and say I swear by Almighty God that I will not disclose anything of any nature with this position I had just accepted’. So, I thought ‘Oh my dear.’ I put my pretty little hand on the Bible. I could hardly stagger down the stairs I was so het up!’ I did work hard, long hours, and often had to come back on the weekends. I worked on a new machine for coding and ciphering messages, and I was the only one using it for quite some time in secret. That was where I met my husband Ron, who was also working there.”