At 94, Avis Quarrell is still a wiz behind the wheel. “I’m better in the car than I am on legs,” she says with a laugh.
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Driving is pretty much second nature to Mrs Quarrell, who honed her skills during World War II.
She comes with a car-mad pedigree – her father was a mechanic and moved the family across western Victoria in her youth in search for work.
Mrs Quarrell finished school at 15 and by then was already a competent driver and could pull an engine apart and reassemble it.
She signed up to war at the age of 19 with the hope of putting her love of engines to good use.
“I wanted something in the mechanical unit so they put me into searchlights,” she said.
After training, Mrs Quarrell operated giant searchlights on the coast of Sydney, before she was transferred to the East Sale Air Base, a training centre for Hudson and Beaufort bombers.
Her mechanical skills were useful for maintaining and repairing the engines that powered the lights,but she hankered for a job on four wheels and was accepted for a transfer to the motor division where she began life as a driver.
She was assigned a 1941 Chevrolet to ferry senior officers to their appointments.
Mrs Quarrell was car proud and because her vehicle was always kept in tip-top condition, she was soon promoted to driving senior officers.
General Robertson, General Burston, Matron Sage and Lady Mountbatten are among the distinguished passengers she drove around.
“I absolutely loved it,” she said.
Her stories have enthralled young crowds during war history lessons at the RSL, and Mrs Quarrell is also a familiar face at Flagstaff Hill, where she is a life member.
Mrs Quarrell is an accomplished poet and the author of a number history books about the area,as well as tourism publications.
Her latest work, yet to be released, is a history of the Warrnambool RSL to celebrate its centenary year.
Beyond the written word, Mrs Quarrell is also a talented photographer. Her first photograph was captured when she was just 10 years old and was of Charles Kingsford Smith and his airplane when he landed at Nhill airport.
The framed original still takes pride of place in her Warrnambool home.
