Milly Yarnold (nee Reed)
Memories From The War Years
The Reed family arrived from England in 1928 and settled in Richlands in 1931. Milly, the elder daughter, provided these anecdotes for the book Richlands State School – 60th Anniversary 1934-1994, which was written and produced by Ric Formigoni, a teacher and former pupil at the school.
Service Industries (P63 )
“The US army camp on the eastern side of Archerfield Road was staffed largely by Negro enlisted men and administered by a few white officers. A number of service industries sprang up which catered to the army personnel’s requirements. From a small shop under Munro’s house on the corner of Pine and Archerfield (northern side) Roads, large quantities of fried chicken and ice cream were sold. Some ladies, appreciating the advantages of the nearby army base, located themselves conveniently in the area. A young woman living with George Goodge (opposite Munros) managed to have 5 children with 5 different nationalities. When delivering the 5th child, the doctor felt obliged to point out to the mother that she had borne a black child. Upon being informed, she casually responded, ‘No problems! I’ve been drinking a lot of black tea lately.'”
Milly’s Babies (P47)
“A large rumbling US army truck pulled up beside Milly, a voice asking her if she required transport. The driver indicated that he could take her as far as Ipswich Road Darra, but no further. Eternally grateful to such generosity, she accepted; after all, it was midday and in the middle of summer. Milly expressed her gratitude to the individual whom she believed to be in charge, only to be surprised by the response, ‘Sorry lady, I’m only the batman, he’s the boss.’ She dutifully thanked the officer, who, impressed by her sincerity, invited her to put her name on ‘one of these babies.’ ‘These babies’ turned out to be large bombs and to Milly’s absolute dread, she realized the truck was loaded with a large number of ‘these babies’ and she was nearly sitting on them.”
Richlands
Richlands State School – 60th Anniversary 1934-1994 (1994), R Formigoni. Milly later married one of the US soldiers from the local area and moved to the US. She returned years later and lived in the local area until her death in 2005.
