CROCKER, James Joseph
| Service Number: | 80637 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 27 May 1942 |
| Last Rank: | Leading Aircraftman |
| Last Unit: | RAAF Pearce |
| Born: | Bunbury, Western Australia, 13 September 1904 |
| Home Town: | Mingenew, Mingenew, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Station Manager |
| Died: | Perth, Western Australia, 10 November 1974, aged 70 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Midland Cemetery The Western Australian Garden of Remembrance |
| Memorials: | Mingenew District Road Board WW2 Roll of Honour |
World War 2 Service
| 27 May 1942: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Leading Aircraftman, 80637, RAAF Pearce | |
|---|---|---|
| 17 Dec 1945: | Discharged Royal Australian Air Force, Leading Aircraftman, 80637, RAAF Pearce |
Help us honour James Joseph Crocker's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Leading Aircraftman James Joseph Crocker (Service No:80637) enlisted in the RAAF at No 4 Recruiting Centre Perth as an Aircraftman I on 27 May 1942 - mustered as Driver Motor Transport (DMT) and later as Fitter DMT. Described in his Interview as 'Good type. Rather tall .... from appearance is used to hard work. Very deliberately spoken' (NAA: 1942), he was promoted to Leading Aircraftman on 27 May 1943 and was attached to Station HQ Pearce at Discharge on 17 December 1945.
Jim was born in Bunbury, WA in 1904, third of four children of Edward Henry Crocker (b1879 in Pekina, South Australia) and his first wife Jessie Core Irving (b1877 in Blanchetown, South Australia). Edward was a Miner in Kalgoorlie in 1898 when he and Jessie married in Boulder. In the early 1900s they moved to Bunbury, then Harvey and Dowerin where Edward was a Farm Hand. Edward and Jessie separated in 1910 - Jessie settled in Midland and Edward in Beverley, where he was working as a Farm Manager in 1916 when they divorced. The divorce was acrimonious, and Edward and Jessie were engaged in custody disputes. Both remarried - Edward in Adelaide in 1919 and Jessie in Midland.
Jim worked as a Farm Hand at Watheroo and Namban, and from the mid 1930s was Station Manager at Irwin River Station in Mingenew. In 1936 in Moora, Jim married Dorothy Mary Longman (b1911 in Moora, WA) and they settled in Mingenew where they raised their family. In 1942 when Jim enlisted n the RAAF, Dorothy and the children moved to Midland Junction, where Dorothy died in 1944. Following his Discharge, Jim worked in Mingenew as a Mechanic, and in the early 1950s moved to Bindi Bindi via Moora where he was a Farmer. In the early 1960s Jim moved to Geraldton, where he was a Farmer in 1964 when he married Elsie Winsome Skinner (nee Butler; b1912 in Kensington, England) - Elsie had immigrated with her parents in 1913, arriving in Fremantle on board the Belgic. Jim and Elsie settled in Geraldton, where Jim was a Farmer. Jim died in Perth (Hollywood Hospital) in 1974 and Elsie in 1994.