MULLINS, Albert William Dominic
| Service Number: | 357 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 3 August 1914, New Guinea Expeditionary Force, a member of the South Australian contingent. Discharged 13 February 1915 and a further 6 years on the RANR. |
| Last Rank: | Able Seaman |
| Last Unit: | Royal Australian Navy |
| Born: | Adelaide, South Australia, 4 August 1892 |
| Home Town: | Rose Park, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 3 Aug 1914: | Enlisted Australian Naval & Military Expeditionary Forces (New Guinea 1914), Able Seaman, 357, Royal Australian Navy, New Guinea Expeditionary Force, a member of the South Australian contingent. Discharged 13 February 1915 and a further 6 years on the RANR. | |
|---|---|---|
| 14 Aug 1914: | Involvement Australian Naval & Military Expeditionary Forces (New Guinea 1914), Able Seaman |
A Pioneer of Australian Civil Aviation
My Grandfather, AWD Mullins, known by his third given name Dom (for Dominic) commenced his working life as a fitter and turner apprentice at the Islington Railway Workshops in Adelaide, South Australia. In 1914 he enlisted in the Naval Reserve and was part of the South Australian Contingent of the Naval and Military Expeditionary Force that saw action in Papua New Guinea. He was present at the formal surrender of the German forces in Rabaul in September that year and returned to Adelaide in February 1915.
He contracted malaria in New Guinea and was deemed unfit for further military service. Dom then sailed for England in 1915 and worked at the Woolwich Arsenal and later, Vickers Limited. He met his wife, Grace (my Grandmother), a British Army Nurse and they moved back to Adelaide. He enlisted in the RAAF on the 16 September 1921, (6 months after the creation of Royal Australian Airforce) and discharged on the 4 January 1925.
In 1926, he accepted a position with the Adelaide based Guinea Airways as an aircraft engineer. His wife Grace relocated to Melbourne to await the birth of their youngest son (James), my father. Over the next 10 years, Dom was the driving force behind the establishment of Lae Airport and its extensive workshops. With the addition of more airfields in PNG, heavy equipment for goldmining and civil construction could be flown in from Port Morseby over the Owen Stanley Ranges using Junker JU52 aircraft.
The Mullins family (Dom, Grace and 4 children, Dorothy, Molly, Bill and James) left Lae in 1936 and returned to Darwin where he worked on the Qantas Catalina Flying Boats. Dom later became Chief Engineer at the Qantas Flying Boat Base in Rose Bay, Sydney for many years. His last aircraft engineering post was at Parafield Airfield in Adelaide for the same owners who commenced Guinea Airways in 1926. Grace died in the mid 50s and Dom retired to Christies Beach, Adelaide. His workshop was something to behold! He built his own plywood caravan and travelled extensively, even venturing to Perth on the yet unsealed Eyre Highway. On behalf of all of his surviving grandchilden; Jinx, John, Peter, Lyn, Brenda, Jim, Julie, Philip, Stuart and Vicki, a life truely well lived by a remarkable man, my Grandfather 'Dom'.
Randall Mullins
28 February 2024
Submitted 28 February 2024 by Randall Mullins