Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Leading Aircraftman Thomas Wilbur Dellar (Service No:142145) enlisted in the RAAF as an Aircraftman I at No 1 Recruiting Centre Melbourne on 27 May 1943 and attended Signals School Pt Cook. Promoted to LAC in 1944, he served with 4 Embarkation Depot, No 55 Operational Base Unit (OBU) Birdum NT, 11 Signals Unit, Parap NT, 110 Mobile Fighter Sector (MFS) Darwin and 165 FCU. LAC Dellar transferred to 2 Operational Training Unit (OTU) Williamtown, NSW in 1945, and was attached to 2 OTU at Discharge on 2 January 1946.

Tom was born at Warracknabeal, Victoria in 1909, eldest of six children of Albert (Bert) Charles Dellar (b1873 in Hamilton, Victoria) and Elizabeth Maude Roberts (b1881 in Minlaton, South Australia). Bert was a Farmer at Willenabrina via Warracknabeal in 1909 when he and Elizabeth married in Warracknabeal. Bert and Elizabeth settled in Willenabrina where they raised their family and Bert was a Farmer. In 1922 Bert was one of several men in the district fined 20/- for failing to have their children vaccinated under the Health Act. In the 1930s the family moved to Portland, where Bert was a Merchant.

Tom worked in Portland as a Cabinetmaker and in his Attestation Paper (NAA) stated he had been a Garage Owner in Portland. In 1935 in Portland he married Esma May Pill (b1909 in Portland, Victoria). By the early 1940s Tom and Esma had moved to Melbourne where Tom was a Munitions Worker (Examiner) with the Navy Inspections Branch when he enlisted in the RAAF. Following his Discharge, Tom and Esma setttled in Melbourne where Tom worked as a Carpenter until his death in 1972. Esma died in 1990.