A war bride in waiting: Maud Josephine Tyrrell

It had been three long years since Maud Josephine Tyrrell last laid eyes on her handsome American fiancé. They had spent more time apart than together. Would she even recognise him? Would she still be in love with him, and he with her? When would she return to Australia again? Any of these questions may have crossed her mind. With her wedding dress packed, Maud boarded the Marine Phoenix, the last bridal ship to leave Australian shores for America on 14 April 1947.

Japan’s surrender 15 August 1945 marked the Allied Victory in the Pacific, but for one particular group of Australians the end of the war was drawn out for months and sometimes years. It is estimated that between 12,000 and 15,000 Australian women married American servicemen.

Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the increasing threat of Japanese invasion, thousands of US troops poured into Australia, with a particular concentration of US bases along the north-eastern coast. By June 1942, 89,000 US troops were stationed here, swelling to over 140,000 by August 1943. The sheer number of American servicemen in Australia provided ample opportunities for young Australian women and American men to meet and form a connection.

A large US base was established in Townsville, Queensland. In 1942 a young and handsome American by the name of Cliff Hebert from Laconia, New Hampshire, posted to the Townsville Racecourse camp with his regiment, the 197th Regiment, US Army.

According to family history, Maud and Cliff met for the first time when he knocked on her door to buy a horse from her father. It was only a short walk across the paddock from Cliff’s camp to Maud’s family home, and before long they started dating. However, they were only allowed to see each other if they were chaperoned by a family member. Cliff was one of the camp’s cooks, and used his culinary skills to woo Maud with fresh doughnuts every Sunday.

Cliff and Maud became engaged in 1945. As Maud’s mother had died when Maud was five, she sought the skills of a local dressmaker for her wedding dress: a classical A-line ivory satin dress with long sleeves, high neckline and a fishtail train.

Before they could tie the knot, though, Cliff shipped out to New Guinea with his regiment at short notice, and the opportunity escaped them. Maud’s wedding dress was packed away. At the end of the war he was sent back to the United States, leaving Maud behind in Australia, with neither the money nor the opportunity to follow him.  

In a post-war environment that included the repatriation of Australian personnel and shipping shortages, Australian war brides presented authorities with a huge logistical task. The reality for thousands of Australian war brides and their children was that life was placed on hold until transportation to their new country could be made available.

Maud joined over twelve thousand brave Australian war brides who were promised free travel to the USA to be reunited with their husbands and fiancés. When shipping was made available, brides with children were prioritised, followed by childless brides and lastly by fiancées. The US government’s initiative Operation War Bride eventually transported approximately 70,000 women from across the globe. The converted troopships carrying women and children often had only rudimentary facilities. Mothers would string up clotheslines on the deck and air-dry their hand-washed nappies. The media at the time caught on to this improvisation and dubbed it “Operation Diaper Run”.  

As Maud was classed as a fiancée, she had to wait while the months and years ticked over. When she finally left Australia for America on the last bridal ship, Marine Phoenix, on 14 April 1947, she was just one of hundreds of women aboard the converted troopship.

When Maud and Cliff were finally reunited after three long years, they had never been alone together on a date. Maud moved in with her future in-laws. Just six weeks after her arrival, Maud Tyrrell and Cliff Hebert were married in Laconia, New Hampshire, on 28 June 1947. A local newspaper at the time reported:

Lovely little Maud Tyrrell brought with her from Townsville, Queensland, her white satin wedding gown made along classical lines with long train and her full length veil with orange blossom headdress. Seldom has Laconia seen a sweeter bride than the motherless girl who kept house for her father Joseph Tyrrell, back home in Townsville, nor a prouder bridegroom than Clovis Hebert, whom she met when served overseas with Battery C of the 197th.

There were certainly bumps along the way for Maud. Soon after they were married, Maud was expecting and miscarried. In January 1949 their son Michael was born. But Maud and Cliff’s marriage was breaking down, and when Michael was nine months old, a bereft Maud left America for Australia with the financial help of her father and the Australian Red Cross.

She returned to Townsville with Michael and lived with her father, Joe. Despite the physical separation Maud and Cliff were in constant communication through letters. When Joe died suddenly in late 1952, Cliff asked Maud if she would be willing to give their marriage another chance. She answered yes, and within the year she was on her way to France, where he had been posted.

As Cliff was posted around the world, Maud followed. They welcomed another two children (Susan and Patti) into their family. For a shy young girl from Townsville, she really had an extraordinary life travelling the world.

Cliff had promised they would resettle in Australia when he retired from the Army. True to his word, they moved back to Townsville in 1973. Cliff died in 1982. Maud died in 2015 and was buried alongside him in Townsville.