On Friday 25 April we honour the men and women who served our country through all conflicts, and in this edition we feature two locals.

Alice Sharp was honoured for decades of service to the Red Cross, and particularly as a voluntary aid through World War II.

Mrs Sharp was awarded the Commandant in Chief's Card for distinguished service during the war years.

She was invited to attend a parade of VA Detachments in the grounds of Government House in October 1946, to be presented with the award by His Excellency The Governor Lieutenant Colonel S G Nelson.

The primary role of a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) member was that of nursing orderly in hospitals, carrying out menial but essential tasks, The Australian War Memorial explains.

At the start of the First World War, Australian VADs were restricted from traveling overseas by the Defence Council and many chose to travel and serve with British detachments.

This policy was changed in 1916 after a request from Great Britain, and the first detachment of 30 official Australian VADs to serve overseas left Australia in September 1916.

In World War II VADs were given more medical training, but they were not fully qualified nurses. They worked in convalescent hospitals, on hospital ships and the blood bank as well as on the home front.

Some 1500 VADs gathered in Sydney for the parade and presentation, followed by a concert and reunion.

Mrs Sharp served as Commandant of the Forbes Voluntary Aid Detachment, and was in 1966 recognised for 50 years service to the Red Cross.

"By direction of the National Council I write to express the thanks of the Society for the splendid service you have given in its name during the last 50 years," a letter from then Chairman Geoffrey Newman-Morris said.

"I congratulate you on being one of those devoted people whose untiring efforts have made the name and emblem of the Red Cross so widely respected in our community, and its humanitarian principles so well understood."