Bachelor of Science. Rushcutter for RDF Duties. Nee Sloman
Obituary (incase it is firewalled or removed) reads - This was published 16 years ago.
She served the nation with purpose and intelligence
Elvira Adelstein, 1921-2008
January 24, 2009 — 12.00am
ELVIRA ADELSTEIN had a science degree when that was not common for young women and she joined the navy when young women were very rare there.
She was part of a family that has served in the Australian armed services for three generations. Her father was an Anzac who was injured at Gallipoli, her husband was in the army and she had a grandson in the Royal Australian Air Force.
Elvira Ruth Sloman, who has died aged 87, was born in London, one of three daughters of Louis Sloman and his wife Ada (nee Berger). The family returned to Australia when Elvira was four.
She was an eager sportswoman at school. She loved skiing, tennis and athletics - and enjoyed talking about the time she was running a 100-yard (91 metres) race at Sydney Girls High School when she overshot the finish line, jumped the fence, and ended up in "no man's land" - Sydney Boys High School - much to her teachers' annoyance.
After high school, she did a bachelor of science at the University of Sydney. When she was 19, during World War II, she enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy. On the first day of her training, she discovered that she was the only female in her group and was informed by the Chief Petty Officer that "the Navy is no place for a woman" because, for one thing, there were no facilities for females, and for another, naval training was unsuitable for women. Undaunted, she replied, "Sorry, sir, but I am here to stay."
She became a scientific liaison officer, working in signals, codes and translation. She was based at HMAS Watson on South Head and served there until the end of World War II. As well as her own work, she found that many of the crew serving on submarines developed dermatitis and, researching this, she found that the dye used in their uniforms reacted to the moist conditions in the submarine. She recommended that the fabric in the uniform be changed.
A photograph of her looking serious but beautiful in her naval uniform was used as part of a recruitment drive for the navy. In 1944 she married Neville Adelstein, an army lieutenant responsible for defence transport.
After the war Adelstein settled down to enjoy life and her family. She went to the theatre, opera and ballet and became a guide at the Art Gallery of NSW. She favoured the Australian Impressionist painters and the Archibald, and enjoyed meeting the artists.
She was a voracious reader and an enthusiastic member of the Woollahra Library. She also enjoyed book club discussion groups at the Women's Club in Elizabeth Street, Sydney, where she was a member for more than 20 years.
Adelstein also worked writing exams for university students, including a blind student throughout his law course, and was a science tutor at the University of Sydney. She loved bridge and was a national master, travelling to tournaments and often coming home with a trophy.
Her family grew from three children to include their partners, then nine grandchildren and their partners, then nine great-grandchildren. It might have been easy to forget names, but Adelstein relished their individual qualities and was friends with all the generations. In her final months she gave each great-grandchild a leather-bound book of children's classics with a personal message in the front.
Elvira Adelstein is survived by her children Robyn Richmond, Jennifer Adelstein and Geoffrey Adelstein and their partners, her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Neville Adelstein died in 2003.
Harriet Veitch and Robyn Richmond
