Jennie Stasinowsky by Emma Choi

 

Jennie Freda Stasinowsky was born on the 30^th of June 1906, in Broken Hill, New South Wales; the fourth child of parents Johann Stasinowsky and Karen Thorgersen. Shortly subsequent to her birth, the family migrated from Broken Hill to the South Australian town of Morgan, in the region of Riverland, wherein they resided and led a career of farming for thirty ensuing years, throughout which another six children were born. Jennie Stasinowsky is documented to have been known by a number of monikers, including Jennie, Freda, Fay, or Stazzo, by varying family members and work colleagues.

Upon leaving school in 1925, Jennie Stasinowsky joined the federal Postmaster-General’s Department, otherwise known as the PMG, which was accountable for the provision of postal and telegraphic services throughout Australia. She was employed as a telephonist, being responsible for answering and connecting calls, and worked in diverse South Australian locations, both rural and urban, throughout her career – including Adelaide and Port Augusta. Despite her term length at Port Augusta initially being twelve months, Stasinowsky was recalled at three months to prepare for a new position in Darwin. She was selected – along with sisters Eileen and Jean Mullen – owing to her extensive experience and expertise, as a senior telephone operator at the time she was chosen.

Stasinowsky travelled from Adelaide to Darwin on the 10^th of May 1941, on an approximately 13-hour flight. She was allocated to live at No. 2 residence, which was a stone cottage built on The Esplanade in 1880. Upon settling in Darwin, Stasinowsky took up the pastime of euchre and bridge, classic trick-taking card games that, notably, her mother was also an accomplished player of, winning several tournaments held at Morgan.

At 10 a.m. on the 19^th of February 1942, just shy of a year since Jennie Stasinowsky’s move to Darwin and in the midst of the Second World War, Japanese aircraft appeared over the city, and a bombing proceeded, intending to preclude the Allied Powers from utilising the town as a base port to dispute the invasion of Timor and Java. In response to the sounding of the air raid siren, Stasinowsky, along with other staff members, took shelter in the trenches that had been dug to surround the Post Office complex. However, the shelter in question received a direct hit, killing all ten occupants, including Jennie Stasinowsky, upon impact.

Stasinowsky was originally temporarily buried at a grave on Kahlin Beach, then re-buried at the Berrimah War Cemetery. Her final resting place is the Adelaide War Cemetery, and a street in the Darwin suburb of Alawa is named in her honour. Jennie Freda Stasinowsky continues to be commemorated and remembered, and her story lives on.