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Maida served in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) in WWII. She joined the WAAF on 29 July 1942, serving first in Melbourne at the Prahran office, before being posted to Amberley and Townsville. Maida was in the WAAF until April 1946, after the end of WWII. 

She remembered her formative experiences at Brisbane Girls Grammar School fondly. Maida caught the tram from Rosalie to the Normanby station—with the Brisbane Grammar boys swinging off the tram poles—then walked up the hill to Girls Grammar. Most of her eight brothers and sisters, her husband and three children, two son-in-laws and three grandsons have attended Brisbane Grammar School and Brisbane Girls Grammar School. Teachers who remained in her memory include her Social Science teacher, Miss Kennedy, and her Form teacher, Miss Park, as well as the intimidating and statuesque Lady Principal, Miss Lilley.  

She particularly enjoyed and excelled in sport, and represented the School in Running and Swimming. After two years at the School, Maida sat for her Junior Certificate.  

However, even after leaving, her connection to the School continued, and she joined the Grammar Old Girls’ Choir. She recalled one particular ‘crusty’ choir master, Sir Thomas Beacham, who spoke to late audience members with a curt manner, saying ‘This is an auditorium, not a cabaret!’ 

Maida’s enthusiasm for singing and music were a constant throughout her life. Maida joined the WAAF choir, starred in a can-can dance, learned the piano and joined in the Gilbert and Sullivan Society for yet more singing performances. 

After the War, Maida and her sister Rhonda learned Public Speaking and Debating. Maida attracted widespread newspaper coverage, as she was the only woman in the debating teams that travelled to Sydney and Melbourne for competitions, and Queensland was the first state to have a woman debater. In a time when travelling interstate was still a significant undertaking, Maida was committed to following her curiosity, and open to adventure.  

In a quote printed in the Melbourne Argus in 1953, Maida spoke of the expansive powers of debating, saying ‘I find debating widens my knowledge a lot. When you are given a subject to debate and you know nothing about it, you simply have to study it.’ 

When Maida reflected on the opportunities available to the current generation of young women, she recognised the differing influences they face and celebrates the freedom of movement they enjoy. Her advice to today’s Grammar girls is to ‘take advantage of the opportunities given to you, but be selective: use your own aptitudes to reach your potential.’