My two sisters. Gladys Gardside and my other sister was Mary Faye Drummond. And she was the boss. And the second one had to do as was she told. I wasn't going to be told by any sister. And I got away with it. I am Elizabeth Mackenzie. I was a Drummond. And I was born in Bendigo, at Quarry Hill. And the house is still there where I was born, with the steps that went up to the veranda. On either side there were the lions’ heads. My father, he call me Biddy or Bridget O'Flynn. Anything but Elizabeth. But it was mostly Beth I got. He wanted everybody to be happy. And he had a lot to do with Bendigo. My father said, “I rather like the motorcar that's becoming a little bit popular instead of the horse and buggy.” He'd gone into the motor business and started off the garage at Kangaroo Flat. He would be a big help for the charities of Bendigo, especially the Easter fair, and Mum would be in the background making clothes and poppies and all those sort of things, they could sell them for a penny or something like that. She was a great sewer and made all the clothes for the family. She used to wear a corset and she used to have to get the laces up. And I used to be fascinated. If only I was able to wear one of those things. The big bras and things. And she used to, “Now, don't you say anything to anybody you saw me getting dressed.” They were good days. All of a sudden my dad died. I was about seven and a half, something like that. Enough for me to remember. I think he had pneumonia or something like that but yes, that was very sad because, you see the other friends that you have, they’ve got their fathers and mothers and all of a sudden one was taken. And you wonder what that's all about. My two sisters and my mother, they continued on in Bendigo but I went to my mother's family in Barkers Creek. Now, that's between Castlemaine and Harcourt. My grandfather, he opened the shop, the grocery shop and of course, they had the farm. And you had to go and pick the apples and go to where the chickens were and pick up the eggs for the day. They had a slaughterhouse down at the back of the house and you’d see the chain go on the the cow and then they’d slice it right down the front and all guts would fall out and that is as if it's just happened. You never forget that. And I don't like that sort of meat. I prefer to have vegetables. They had the open fires. I even made a tapestry of the kitchen with the old pot hanging on the hook. Open fire. You had to have that to have your hot water. I'd go from the house across the paddock, over the creek, over the bridge and up to the one roomed school. And then, went to college in Bendigo. Graduated as a stenographer, that shorthand and typing, and I went to a solicitors, Neal and Woodward. And when I was 18, I said to my Mum, “I'm going to join the Army”. And she said, “You are not going to do anything of the sort!” “Yes, I am.” I had 1300 days in the army. I wanted to see the world. And I went from Bendigo to Melbourne. And that's as far as I got. I was sent to Acland Street, South Yarra. A big two storey house that the government had taken over. When I was interviewed, I was told things and they said, “And whatever you've heard does not go out the door.” You are now in Z Special Unit. And that is what happened. There are things that I will not utter. Upstairs, to this day, I didn't know who was up there, and it was cipher. And they weren't allowed to talk to me. And there was only about four of us in the orderly room and that's where I ended up mostly doing the clerical work for the operatives that used to come in. The medals? They’re corporal. That's as far as I go. I'm not an officer. I'm just a corporal. All of a sudden, in comes Gilbert. He came into the orderly room. And I said, “Oh, I like your blue wings.” He says, “Yes.” He says, “I've just been with the Liberators.” And he says, “I've been teaching them how to parachute out the tail of the airplane.” And this particular day I thought, “Oh, he’s nice” and when I looked at him, I thought, “I’ll have a look and see what his name is and and have a look at his file”, which was a red covered one. I'll never forget that. Oh right, three things... You had to be the right religion back in those days. Oh, that was okay. Yes. Then, where he came from? Sydney! That's miles away! He had to an Aussie but he wasn't. Oh, yes, he was. Yes. His parents were Scottish. Something else, what was it? Oh their.. the age. He was two years older than me. And he must have thought, “Oh, this is not bad... Would you like to come for a lemonade because we didn't have coffees back in those days. We became engaged on my 21st birthday, filled in the time and then got married in ‘47. Well, it was just like reading out of the Bible and saying, “I'm going to be a good girl”. And he's saying the same sort of thing. We did have a wonderful life together. Really. We were married for 79 years. I don’t think you could have got a happier marriage. we did have a little scuffles. Not very often and we we got over it. Yeah. Told each other we loved each other, and off we go again. We built a house at Hurstville, in Sydney, Children came along, the two girls, Heather and Judith when I had children, it was nothing but love. But it was, there were happy kiddies and yeah, I would like to part with them. We lost our little David a long time ago now. all I had him for. Little David. Yeah. You never, never forget. Na, never, ever. That little fella... but looking at him, he is just perfect. You just wonder what happened Apparently it was to do with the heart or something like that. But I've never been told. And I don't want to know. And he's he's buried in Sydney, and Gilbert’s in Sydney and I’ve got his little plot paid for next to me. And then of course all the family in Bendigo are in the Bendigo cemetery. So, Judith often takes me there to see where the Drummonds and the Mackenzies are stuck there. I loved my mother and I loved my father but to lose that little baby... He didn't have any, any… What shall I say? Any choice. It was just taken. And I think whoever took him should be taken as well. had a pretty good life in some respects, some of it hasn't been so good, but other than that, not too bad considering. I can't believe those years have gone by. In fact, I just couldn't believe that I was 100 God, just out of the blue... Oh, my goodness me! It’s me that they’re talking about. Oh dear...