In January, the Union Jack Chapter of the Daughters of the British Empire (DBE) installed its youngest member, 14-year-old Millie Walker.
Members of the Union Jack Chapter of the Daughters of the British Empire, including 98-year-old Coral Ayraud (picture center left) welcome their youngest member, Millie Walker (submitted photo).
DBE member Mary Baker shared that Millie, the granddaughter of member Helen Walker, was installed as the group’s first “junior member” by the chapter’s oldest and longest standing member, Coral Ayraud, who will be 99 in July and first joined DBE in 1946.
Originally from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, Coral came to the U.S. in 1946. She was a “war bride” who met her future husband, Frank Ayraud, a native of Phoenix, when he was stationed in Brisbane during World War II. After a year-long courtship, the couple married in 1943. They enjoyed a 10-day honeymoon, after which Frank shipped out to Northern Australia and then on to New Guinea and the Philippines. Coral kept busy in his absence, singing for the troops at camps and hospitals across Queensland three to four times a week. She also served as an Air Raid Warden when home, working at the family furniture shop.
Although they wrote each other every day, the couple did not see one another again until after the war. It was three years later when Coral landed in San Francisco and was met by Frank.
“It was good to see him,” Coral said. “I hadn’t seen him in few years, so he looked a little different. We had to get reacquainted, you know,” she laughed.
The couple then made the trek across the desert to Phoenix. It was quite an experience for Coral, who had never seen the desert before, and she found herself homesick for Brisbane. Thankfully, her friend Libby McGuire had seen an article in the newspaper about the DBE. The Union Jack Chapter had been established in 1939, but a new chapter, the Overseas Chapter, was formed in ’46, comprised mostly of Australian war brides. Coral credits the group with helping save many marriages.
Coral Ayraud (pictured bottom row, left, with her daughter Diane) credits the DBE with saving many marriages. The members would talk about Australia and being homesick and then were able to happily return to their families. Photo ca. 1947; courtesy of the Daughters of the British Empire in Arizona
“We were all very homesick, you know,” she reminisced laughingly. “And we’d go once a month and commiserate together and then we could stick it out for another month.”
Fast forward seven decades, and the group is still meeting regularly, now once again as the Union Jack Chapter, which was reformed in 1988. Coral’s daughter, Carol, who is now regent for the group, said that they are still doing fundraising in the community. They hold an annual garden tea fundraiser and support organizations such as the Arizona Friends of Foster Children, Pawsitive Friendships and the British Home in California.
And they are passing on that sense of comradery and service to the younger generation.
“I’ve always seen my grandma work so hard for this organization,” Millie said. “I thought I could do the same.”
It seems as though the future is secure in Millie’s hands, who encourages people of all ages to become a part of a service organization. “You’ll learn a lot about service and how to help others,” she added.
And Coral still has plenty of wisdom to pass on. When asked her advice for living through turbulent times, she shared, “Just take one day at a time. Because that’s all we get the strength for. Just one day at a time.”
