OTWAY, James Ernest
| Service Number: | W52585 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 8 August 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
| Born: | Perth, Western Australia, 12 August 1916 |
| Home Town: | Wiluna, Wiluna, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Miner |
| Died: | Meekatharra, Western Australia, 8 January 1975, aged 58 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Karrakatta Cemetery & Crematorium, Western Australia |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 8 Aug 1941: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, W52585 | |
|---|---|---|
| 26 Nov 1946: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, W52585 |
Help us honour James Ernest Otway's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Jim was the third of six children of Ernest (Ernie) Alexander Otway (b1889 in Beverley, WA) and his first wife Elizabeth Mary Tasker (b1889 in Cherton, Victoria) - Elizabeth had arrived in Kalgoorlie WA in the late 1890s with her parents and siblings. Ernie and Elizabeth married in Perth WA in 1911 and settled in Beverley where Ernie worked as a Farm Hand. Following Elizabeth's death in 1925, Ernie worked as a Dingo Trapper at Youanmi, WA before relocating to Perth where he remarried in 1936.
Jim worked as a Labourer and Miner at Bald Hill Station in Meekatharra WA before enlisting in the ACMF in August 1941. He was a Sapper (Service No:W52585) attached to 25 Mechanical Equipment Parks Coy when he was Discharged in November 1946. Four of Jim's brothers - John, Robin, Frederick and Charles - also served in WWII.
In June 1946 at Canowindra nr Cowra, NSW Jim had married Marjorie Martha Thompson (b1915 in Canowindra NSW). Margaret died in 1957 in NSW, and by 1949 Jim had returned to Bald Hill Station in Meekatharra WA where he worked as a Prospector until his death in 1975.