Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of John L PRATT, 510 Point Napean Road, Frankston, Victoria.

He was born in Frankston, Victoria, in 1925.

Bill’s father served in the Australian Imperial Force on the Western Front in the First World War. When he was 16, Bill joined the Air Training Corps hoping this would help him to later be selected for flight training. On his 18th birthday, Bill paused his Civil Engineering university course and travelled to Melbourne to enlist in the RAAF. He had excellent 6/6 vision in both eyes, but due to colour blindness he could not be selected to train as a pilot. Because he had already started his engineering studies, Bill had to enlist in an engineering trade.

Bill joined the RAAF in December 1943. After his recruit training, in January 1944 he was posted to No. 1 School of Technical Training in the Royal Exhibition Building at Carlton, Melbourne, before progressing to No. 1 Engineering School in September. He qualified as a flight rigger and in December 1944 he was posted to the Air Gunnery School at West Sale, working on the aircraft used to train air gunners.

After several months, Bill was sent on a jungle training course at Sanctuary Cove in Queensland to prepare him for a posting to Morotai Island in the Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia). Before he could be posted to Morotai, the war ended. Bill was instead sent to the RAAF Area Finance Office in Adelaide where he processed the paperwork for discharge benefits that airmen were entitled to when they returned to civilian life.

Bill was himself discharged in February 1946 and he returned to university. He later bought a small grocery shop in Frankston and developed it into the first self-service store south of Melbourne. After doing some research, Bill built the first supermarket in Australia in a paddock behind his little grocery store. Safeway contacted Bill to buy his business. He sold his supermarket to the company and became their Australian Managing Director of Safeway. On his retirement, the company had 135 supermarkets spread across Victoria, NSW and Queensland.

Bill married Laurel in 1947 and they had 3 children. Sadly Laurel and one of their children have died.

When he was younger, Bill played tennis, golf and football. He liked swimming laps and was involved in his Rotary club. Now, he likes watching the news on TV and participating in the social activities at Kew Gardens.

And the secret to Bill’s long life? He said he has no secret, but has always eaten well and led a healthy lifestyle.