BEAKLEY, Arthur John
| Service Number: | 30564 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 15 August 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
| Born: | Waverley, New South Wales, Australia, 27 January 1922 |
| Home Town: | Glenorchy, Glenorchy, Tasmania |
| Schooling: | Hobart Junior Technical School, Tasmania, Australia |
| Occupation: | Salesman (Palfreymans Pty Ltd) |
| Died: | Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, 20 November 2013, aged 91 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Cornelian Bay Cemetery and Crematorium, Tasmania |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 15 Aug 1940: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Sergeant, 30564 | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 May 1946: | Discharged Royal Australian Air Force, Sergeant, 30564 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Sergeant Arthur John Beakley (Service No:30564) enlisted in the RAAF at No 6 Recruiting Centre Hobart on 15 August 1940 as an Aircraftman I - mustered as Office Orderly and re mustered as Clerk. Sergeant Beakley was attached to 11 Group HQ at Discharge on 20 May 1946.
Jack was born in Waverley, New South Wales in 1922, youngest of two sons of Thomas (Tom) Ernest Beakley (b1890 in Hobart, Tasmania) and Jessie Irene Wood (b1895 in Brighton, Tasmania). Tom worked as a Bootmaker in Melbourne, and was in Hobart in 1917 when he and Jessie married. Tom and Jessie moved to Sydney, where Tom worked as a Bootmaker, and both children were born. The family returned to Tasmania in the late 1920s, settling in Glenorchy where Tom was a Bootmaker.
Jack complleted two years training as a Fitter and Turner at Hobart Junior Technical School and worked as a Salesman for Palfreymans Pty Ltd before enlisting in the RAAF. In 1947 Jack was working as a Salesman in Hobart, where he married Betty Evelyn Street (b1920 in Hobart, Tasmania) - Betty was working as a Clerk in Denison. Jack and Betty settled in Glenorchy, where they raised their family and Jack was a Draper. Jack - described as 'A true gentleman, generous in spirit with a sharp wit' (The Mercury; 2013) - was active in his community - a Foundation Member, President and Paul Harris Fellow of the Rotary Club of Glenorchy; Founding Member and Patron of the Glenorchy Rowing Club and of the Moonah and Glenorchy Better Business Association. In the Australia Day 1995 Honours List, he was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in recogniition of service to the community. Following Betty's death in 1978, Tom remarried to Pamela (Pam) Elizabeth in the early 1980s. Pam died in 1998 and Jack in 2013.
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