CHALLEN, Jessie Beatrice
| Service Number: | 94781 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 18 March 1942 |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
| Born: | Perth, Western Australia, 30 December 1922 |
| Home Town: | Perth, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Typist |
| Died: | Albany, Western Australia, 22 January 2006, aged 83 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Allambie Park Cemetery, Albany, Western Australia |
| Memorials: |
Biography contributed by Chris Buckley
Corporal Jessie Beatrice Challen (Service No:94781) served in the RAAF from 18 March 1942 to 2 October 1945 and was attached to Air Defence HQ Perth at Discharge.
Born in 1922 in Herne Hill in the Swan Valley WA. Jessie was the second of six children of Leslie (Les) George Reginald Challen MC, MiD (b1895 in Walhalla, Victoria) and Kathleen Beatrice Wardell-Johnson (b1895 in York, WA). Les (a Clerk) and Kathleen (a Typist) married in Perth in 1920 following Les' service in WWI. Les and Kathleen settled at Herne Hill in the Swan Valley where Les was a Viticulturalist before moving to Perth in 1930. Les worked as a Motor Mechanic and served in the ACMF in WWII.
Jessie was a Typist in Perth when she enlisted in the RAAF, and following her Discharge, was working in Perth again as a Typist when in 1950 she married William (Bill) Gordon Massey (b1921 in Melbourne, Victoria) - Bill, a Teacher, had served in the Army in WWII. Jessie and Bill settled in Melbourne where Bill was a Public Servant before moving to Albany WA in the mid 1960s where Bill was a Public Servant. Jessie died in 2006 and Bill in 2014.
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