Audrey Capuano

BiographyAudrey Wesley was born in Strathalbyn, South Australia. At the age of 18 she met American Private First Class Angelo “Bob” Capuano (32nd Division Reconstruction Corps, US Army) at one of the weekly dances held in her home town. It was 1942 when he arrived in South Australia after his convoy had been diverted to the battle of the Coral Sea, en route to New Guinea. They married at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney in August 1944, with Audrey having to wait until April 1946 for her passage to the USA on the SS MONTEREY.

Departing Sydney on the SS MONTEREY in a group of 410 Australian war brides in April 1946, Audrey was photographed in the Stars and Stripes jumper she had knitted, and 15 days later muscial bands and more photographers were out on the wharf to meet the group at San Francisco. Audrey was hailed in the American Press as "Betsy Ross the Second" - after the legendary Philadelphia seamstress who made the first flag during the American War of Independence.

Audrey settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she retained strong links with other Australian War Brides, setting up the Australian Wives’ Club there. She was married 29 years before Bob passed away in 1988. They had four children together and Audrey still lives in Pittsburgh.

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