OTWAY, Charles Albert
| Service Numbers: | W39625, 80482 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 6 August 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Leading Aircraftman |
| Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
| Born: | Pingelly, Western Australia, 9 September 1922 |
| Home Town: | Coolgardie, Coolgardie, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Electrical Fitter's Apprentice |
| Died: | Gosnells, Western Australia, 9 January 2002, aged 79 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 6 Aug 1941: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, W39625 | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 May 1942: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, W39625 | |
| 8 May 1942: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Leading Aircraftman, 80482 | |
| 1 Feb 1946: | Discharged Royal Australian Air Force, Leading Aircraftman, 80482 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
As with all his siblings, Charlie had a harsh and poverty stricken childhood. He was the youngest of six children of Ernest (Ernie) Alexander Otway (b1889 in Beverley, WA) and Elizabeth Mary Tasker (b1889 in Cherton, Victoria). Ernie (a Farm Hand in Beverley WA) and Elizabeth married in 1911 in Perth WA - Elizabeth had arrived in Kalgoorlie WA in the late 1890s with her parents and siblings. Ernie and Elizabeth settled in Beverley WA where Ernie worked as a Farm Hand. Once Elizabeth fell ill with Tuberculosis, she was isolated and the children sent to institutions in Perth WA. Following Elizabeth's death in 1925, Ernie worked as a Dingo Trapper in Youanmi, WA before settling in Perth where he remarried in 1936.
Charlie and his brothers Fred and Jack reunited in 1936 and worked as Miners before riding freight trains with all their possessions on their backs. Charlie found work as a Dairy Hand in Coolgardie WA, and by 1939 was an Electrical Fitter's Apprentice in Coolgardie. He enlisted in the ACMF in August 1941 (Private; Service No:W39625) and in May 1942 Discharged to enlist in the RAAF. Charlie was a Leading Aircraftman (Service No:80482) attached to 3 Radio Installation and Maintenance Unit when he Discharged in February 1946.
In 1942 in Perth WA Charlie married Eleanor (Nell) Rose Robinson (b1921 in Perth, WA). Charlie and Nell settled in Fremantle and later Gosnells, where Charlie was an Electrical Fitter. Charlie died in 2002 and Nell in 2007.