Deniliquin Greats - Olive Allitt

The Salvation Army in Deniliquin has produced its fair share of outstanding Salvationists.

Olive Allitt entered The Salvation Army’s Officer Training College from Deniliquin. Barbara Bolton paid tribute to her work in the book Booth’s Drum: The Salvation Army in Australia 1880-1980 when she wrote: She had been a school teacher and through her officership worked at developing her skills, becoming a triple-certified nurse and qualifying at the University of Sydney for a Diploma of Social Work … A fifteen-year term as Women’s Social Services Secretary for the Eastern Territory brought her to retirement in 1967, when both Government and Salvation Army dignitaries paid tribute to the advances made in Army social services under her direction.

During her career, Olive (pictured above) pioneered a new method of rural ministry, partnering with Elma Curtis to command the “Field Unit 1”, an outback ministry vehicle in which the pair drove thousands of kilometres in, to minister in towns and rural communities where the needs were great and services were few.