Women war veterans keep Australian Air Force flag flying World War II RAAF veteran Rena Pascoe, 92, with the Australian Air Force Flag at the Walkerville RSL. WOMEN and RSL clubs in Australia have had a chequered history but increasingly the duty of flying the flag at clubs around the nation is being taken up by female World War II veterans. Long ago they were banned from joining, and in the very early days they were considered unwelcome at some dawn services because of their "excessive wailing." But the weight of numbers in favour of male veterans of World War II is being overtaken by the longevity and better health of female veterans. Rena Pascoe, 92, the only active World War II veteran-member of the Walkerville RSL, serves on the club committee. During World War II she spray-painted RAAF fighters and bombers in camouflage colours at plants such as the one at Mallala. Connection with Anzac fading "Many of the older ones are dropping out," Mrs Pascoe said. I've been active since the RSL let women in during the 1980s. During World War II, women served for the first time in many formerly male-only roles. "They told us we couldn't go overseas because we were the 'mothers of the future'," Mrs Pascoe said. Each section of the armed forces had a women's auxiliary force, with Mrs Pascoe signing on for RAAF duties. The last custodian of battlion's flag She said she lost count of the number of planes she painted during the war. There would have been hundreds. We just kept on spraying one after the other - camouflage on top, sky blue underneath and black for night patrol.