[Harlen Maguire]

My Nana (Grandmother) is one of the kindest women I have ever met, through her life she has overcome some appalling things...

Regarding her Father...

A noble man, ready to fight for his country (Britain) in the Second World War, Shipped off to Africa, Fighting in Tobruk he was caught in the middle of a German counterattack, and took shelter in his trench... A German Tank ran clean over him, burying him under sand and debris... He survived, suffering from extreme claustrophobia and boughts of depression...

Upon returning home, he wished for nothing more than to see his Daughter again (His wife had passed away some years earlier), he found his sole daughter in the hands of the Government, and due to his 'condition' he was unable to take custody of her...

He passed away a few years later, a broken wreck...

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My Fathers Uncle, was present during the Japanese bombing of Darwin (Up the north of Australia), shells were tearing through the town and coastline...

He found himself leaping into the water to escape the bombardment, and swimming out nearly 2 miles and, bobbing out there, watching the chaos from afar...

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My Dad's Mother was an Army Nurse, serving in the Pacific... treating the most horrific of wounds...

Upon returning home, she thought it would be only right to take my father (and my uncle) to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Once arrived there, they found she was refused entry because she was wearing a dress, and 'a lady shouldn't be wearing a dress, revealing her legs'.

She tried to explain to the soldier out the front that she had spent 3 years in Jungle wearing a dress, and damned if she was going to stop now. Still, the guard would have no piece of it, and they went home.