She was an unusual woman for her time. She had a reputation among the soldiers she worked with for being a heavy drinker. Major John Farmer said about her drinking that "...we just couldn't work out where it all went". When the Australian government offered her a medal she said they could "stick their medals where the monkey sticks his nuts". She sold her medals to support her income in her old age. She said "There was no point in keeping them, I'll probably go to hell and they'd melt anyway".