BETTY Milne-Ward vividly recalls throwing toilet paper in lieu of streamers to celebrate the end of World War II at an Australian air force base.
The veteran and Logan Village resident, 96, will be thinking back on the war today on the 75th anniversary of victory in the Pacific.
On August 15, 1945 Japan surrendered to allied forces, signalling the end of WWII and sparking celebrations across Australia.
Ms Milne-Ward, 96, said this would be the last significant VP Day anniversary for WWII veterans, the youngest of whom were about 95.
Serving for four years in the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force, she stood out as one of few female aircraft electricians in a male-dominated field.
"I went into the air force on my 18th birthday," she said.
"We embarked on a troop train to go to Sydney. We were there two weeks, then the (Americans) came. They were billeted there as well. That didn't go down to well with our boys.
"After a month of marching up and down ... I was posted to the RAAF hospital (in Victoria) and I was there for a year.
"Then the decision was made that they would open technical musterings up to the WAAAF and I applied.
"There was a list of jobs - technicians, radio, electricians, mechanics.
"Everybody wanted to be a flight mechanic. I was given my second choice, electrician.
"I went over to Adelaide for three months, then they posted us to NSW and I went to (the technical training school at) Ultimo for six months.
"Only seven of us made it through. I was one of them."
At first, Ms Milne-Ward was the only woman in the hangar.
"I showed (the men) up," she said.
"One day, there was static in the radio, so they pulled in some of the guys and they couldn't figure it out.
"They called me up and I knew it had to be the scrambler box, which scrambles the radio coming in so the enemy can't pick it up. Sure enough, I opened it up and there was a load of iron filings in there."
She described the work as full-on, but recalled some of the light-hearted moments, including when one of the pilots took her up in a plane.
"I wanted to go up really badly," she said.
"The squadron leader said the boys would be doing stall turns (where the pilot flies the plane directly upwards before turning and nosediving), and I said yes, not knowing what a stall turn was.
"When we got back to the tower, they said they couldn't tell me from the grass, I was so green."
Ms Milne-Ward laughed as she remembered living in the animal area of the showgrounds with toilets that had no doors.
But there was also a lot of hard work and times were often tough.
"A lot of the time it started adventurous but then got very real," she said.
"I think you remember all the funnies but you don't remember all the nasties.
"I was only 16 when the war started. It got to the point where I thought it was never going to end."
After the war, Ms Milne-Ward spent time in Papua New Guinea, Darwin and her hometown of Victoria before moving to Queensland about 40 years ago.
She has been a member of the Beaudesert and Greenbank RSL clubs.
Though she was invited to participate in Canberra and Brisbane for anniversary memorial services, an injury and COVID-19 restrictions have prevented Ms Milne-Ward from taking part.
Instead, she will be watching televised services and recalling the role she played in the historic event.
