Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Leading Aircraftman Bruce Arnold Wicks (Service No:118943) enlisted in the RAAF at No 1 Recruiting Centre Melbourne on 29 September 1942 as an Aircraftman I - mustered as Trainee Technical, re mustered as Armament Assistant. Promoted to Leading Aircraftman on 12 October 1943, LAC Wicks served with 22 Operational Base Unit (OBU), No 1 Flying Boat Maintenance Unit (FBMU) and No 7 Squadron (Tadji, New Guinea; 1 September 1944 - 4 May 1945). LAC Wicks was attached to 7 Operational Training Unit (OTU) at Discharge on 10 January 1946.

Bruce was born in Melbourne, Victoria in 1924, second of three children (and eldest surviving) of Richard (Dick) Alexander Wicks (b1898 in Melbourne, Victoria) and his first wife Ivy Lillian Young (b1900 in Christchurch, New Zealand). Dick served in the AIF in WWI (Private; Service No:3157) and was a Salesman in 1922 in Melbourne, when he and Ivy married. They settled in Melbourne, where they raised their family and Dick worked as a Salesman and Driver before becoming a Market Gardener (Florist). The business became established as a Family Partnership - Market Gardeners and Florists. Following Ivy's death in 1960, Dick remarried in 1961 to Doris Margaret Hingston (b1911 in Penguin, Tasmania) - Doris was a Machinist working in Melbourne.

Bruce worked as a Carter and Market Gardener in the family business before enlisting in the RAAF in 1942. Following his Discharge, he returned to Melbourne and the family business, and in 1949 in Melbourne married Doris Elsie Gaile (b1924 in Ararat, Victoria) - Doris was a Clerk in Melbourne. Bruce and Doris settled in Melbourne, where they raised their family and both were partners in the family business (Market Gardeners/Florist). Bruce died in 1995 and Doris in 2008.