JACOBS, Eric Leonard
| Service Number: | 85058 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 24 June 1944 |
| Last Rank: | Leading Aircraftman |
| Last Unit: | RAAF Pearce |
| Born: | Wellard, Western Australia, 2 June 1926 |
| Home Town: | Fremantle, Fremantle, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Fremantle Boys' School, Western Australia |
| Occupation: | Bread Deliverer |
| Died: | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 19 May 1987, aged 60 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 24 Jun 1944: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Leading Aircraftman, 85058, RAAF Pearce | |
|---|---|---|
| 13 Jun 1949: | Discharged Royal Australian Air Force, Leading Aircraftman, 85058, RAAF Pearce |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Leading Aircraftman Eric Leonard Jacobs (Service No:85058) enlisted in the RAAF on 24 June 1944 as an Aircraftman I at 5 School of Technical Training (STT), mustered initially as a Trainee Technician and later as a Flight Mechanic. LAC Jacobs was attached to 25, 37, 381 and 82 Squadrons, and on 26 January 1946 volunteered to serve in the Interim Airforce. LAC Jacobs was attached to Station HQ Pearce at Discharge on 13 June 1949.
Eric was born in Wellard WA in 1926, third of four children of Charles Jacobs (b1893 in Somerset, England) and Gladys Mary Price (nee Blake; b1891 in Glenmorganshire, Wales). Charles (a Soldier; Regimental No:9181) and Gladys (a Widow with two young sons) married in 1917 in Monmouthshire, Wales - Gladys' first husband had been KiA in France in 1916. Following his Discharge, Charles and Gladys lived in Wales and Somerset where Charles was a Farm Labourer. They immigrated with their four children under the Western Australian Group Settlement Scheme - provided with assisted passage and land to develop a farm. The family arrived in Albany WA in 1923 on board the Euripedes, and settled on land at the Peel Estate - conditions were harsh and the family faced financial and social hardships. By 1925 Charles and Gladys had left the farm, and settled with their children in Fremantle, where Charles worked as a Miner, General Labourer and Carpenter.
Eric worked as a Casual Labourer in Fremantle when he left school, and in 1944 was the State's Amateur Boxing Champion. In 1948 in Sydney NSW, Eric married Alison Stevenson Mackenzie (b1927 in Sydney, NSW) and following his Discharge, the couple settled in Fremantle, WA. Eric worked as a Labourer and Baker in Fremantle, before joining the Public Service in the early 1960s as a Meat Inspector with the Department of Primary Industries. In the early 1970s Eric and Alison moved to Franklin, Tasmania where Eric was a Meat Inspector before moving to Melbourne by 1980, where he was a Public Servant (Senior Fish Inspector). Both Eric and Alison died in 1987 - Eric in May and Alison in July.
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