Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of John Edward JOLLEY, 48 Church Street, Geelong, Victoria.

Ted was born in Clifton Hill, Victoria, in 1925. He is a veteran of the Second World War.

At the age of 14, Ted started his working life in customer service at Heath’s Garage in Geelong. In April 1943, he enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and was mustered as aircrew. Ted completed his initial training, including learning Morse code, in Queensland and Victoria, before travelling to Scotland via America. From there, he was sent to England to train as a mid-upper gunner on Wellington and Lancaster Bombers.

Just before the end of the war, Ted joined No. 15 Squadron of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and helped complete food drops over Holland. ‘We dropped 6,500 pounds of food in our first run over Rotterdam’, he says.

When reflecting on his service, Ted has some advice for younger serving personnel, ‘just stick with it. Suddenly you’re not an individual anymore, you’re part of a team. It was good, with a little bit of bad’.

Ted discharged from the RAAF in December 1945. After the war, he returned to Heaths Garage and worked in accounts. He was restless, so he re-joined the RAAF for 2 years and was posted to Darwin. Over the next 5 years, Ted spent time as a radio operator and also worked with P&O and on an Ampol tanker. He then joined the Department of Civil Aviation and worked at Essendon Airport and in New Guinea where he met his future wife Elizabeth (Betty).

Ted and Betty returned to Melbourne where they raised their 7 children. Life for Ted was busy and his younger years were spent working and looking after his family.

These days, Ted enjoys researching his family history on the computer.

Ted credits his long life to good genes.