The Mullen sisters by Hannah Rowlands

 

Eileen Carrig Mullen and Jean Carrig Mullen were sisters who spent their child hood in South Australia. They lived in Port Augusta with their father and mother and went to school at St. Aloysius’ Collage Adelaide. The sisters spent their whole lives together went to school together, had their first job at the telephone department at the Adelaide G.P.O., then went to Darwin together (TROVE, n.d.). Eileen and Jean both became trained as telegraphists and in 1941 Eileen was transferred to Darwin to operate the new telephone service and Jean shortly followed.

What were they doing in Darwin

After the bombing of Pearl Harbour and attack on Darwin was imminent, Prime Minister Robert Menzies’ War Cabinet instructed over 2000 women and children, including my grandmothers aunt and cousin, to be evacuated from Darwin via any method of transport available (Library and Archives NT, n.d.). Only 70 females remained in Darwin after the evacuation which included secretaries, nurses, telephonists, maids, and the families of the postmaster and Government Administrator. Around 7 of these women were killed during the first Darwin bombing in 1945 including Eileen and Jean Mullen.

How did they die

On February 19, 1945 Eileen and Jean Mullen were working just as usual when the air raid began these two women along with 7 others were killed after evacuating the post office and retreating to the back of the postmasters house. Sadly nothing they could have done would have saved them from the direct hit on the house and post office (Western Sydney University, 2016).

Quote from their obituary

Their senior officer from their telephone department in Adelaide said that they were "a charming and vivacious pair, with great integrity of character, and amongst the most exemplary people the Department had ever known." (TROVE, n.d.). Their memorial card said “ inseparable in life, united in death.” (TROVE, n.d.)

References

Australia @ War, n.d. Details of Those Killed. [Online]
Available at: https://www.ozatwar.com/japsbomb/killeddarwin19feb42.htm
[Accessed 4 3 2023].

Australian Government Department of Veterans' Affairs, 2023. Bombing of Darwin Day 19 Febuary. [Online]
Available at: https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/commemoration/days/bombing-of-darwin
[Accessed 21 3 2023].

Bowden, B., 2016. The Bombing of Darwin. [Online]
Available at: https://telsoc.org/journal/ajtde-v4-n1/a44
[Accessed 4 3 2023].

Bowden, B., 2016. The Bombing of Darwin. [Online]
Available at: https://telsoc.org/journal/ajtde-v4-n1/a44
[Accessed 21 3 2023].

Library and Archives NT, n.d. The Bombing of Darwin. [Online]
Available at: https://lant.nt.gov.au/explore-nt-history/bombing-darwin
[Accessed 21 3 2023].

Northen Territory , n.d. Women at War. [Online]
Available at: https://northernterritory.com/articles/women-at-war
[Accessed 4 3 2023].

Northern Territory, n.d. Connecting the War Effort. [Online]
Available at: https://northernterritory.com/articles/connecting-the-war-effort
[Accessed 4 3 2023].

Sprout, 2000. Boming of Darwin Past Office. [Online]
Available at: https://parliament.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/308262/Bombing-of-Darwin-Post-Office-brochure.pdf
[Accessed 4 3 2023].

Terotry stories, n.d. Eileen Carrg Millien. [Online]
Available at: https://territorystories.nt.gov.au/10070/840270
[Accessed 4 3 2023].

Territory Stories, n.d. Jean Carrig Mullen. [Online]
Available at: https://territorystories.nt.gov.au/10070/840269
[Accessed 21 3 2023].

TROVE, n.d. My sister and I. [Online]
Available at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/172200951?searchTerm=jean%20carrig%20Mullen
[Accessed 13 4 2023].

Western Sydney University, 2016. Direct Hit: The Bomding of Darwin Post Office. [Online]
Available at: https://researchdirect.westernsydney.edu.au/islandora/object/uws:34081
[Accessed 21 3 2023].

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