Maude Kathleen Deasey

Maude Kathleen Deasey (26 May 1909 – 6 September 1968) was an Australian woman who worked as a teacher and then, during World War II, as a senior officer within the Australian Women's Army Service. In 1943 she was seconded to the Royal Australian Army Chaplains' Department and, in 1946, was a part of the Australian Victory Contingent to London.

Early life Deasey was born in Collingwood, a suburb of Melbourne, where she was the second of six children born to the Reverend Denis Murrell Deasey and his wife Maude Williamson (née Watt). Her father was an Anglican clergyman and she attended school at the Geelong Church of England Girls' Grammar School.

When Deasey returned to Australia she worked first as a teacher at Frensham School in Mittagong until, in 1940, she became the 'lady superintendent' at the Methodist Ladies' College, Melbourne. She was appointed the assistant-controller of the Southern Command by November 1941 and soon after, on 28 January 1947, was promoted to major. In her role she was responsible for establishing the services structure in Victoria and, in 1942 alone, was responsible for enlisting and training more then 5,000 new recruits. One of the other officers she worked closely with was Isla Victoria Murphy.

In May 1943 she was transferred to the First Army headquarters in Toowoomba in Queensland (again as the assistant-controller) before, in October 1943, she was moved back to Melbourne where she was seconded by the Royal Australian Army Chaplains' Department. In this role she acted as an advisor to the chaplains-general, particularly in regards to ensuring that the 30,000 women in Army service, including the Australian Army Nursing Service and the Australian Army Medical Women's Service, were able to maintain contact with their churches. The role also involved extensive travel throughout Australia and the South-West Pacific. This booklet included a foreword by Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester.

In 1946, Deasey represented the Women's Army Service at the Victory march in London as a part of the Australian Victory Contingent.

She transferred to the reserves on 25 January 1947.

Back in Australia she administered a sponsorship scheme for the World Council of Churches which was aimed at assisting immigrants from Europe who had no friends or relatives in Australia to help them by finding them sponsorship.

From 1958 to 1959 she travelled to the United States where, using a Ford Foundation grant, she was a teaching fellow in the faculty of education at New York University.