Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Warrant Officer Garth Stanley Roche (Service No:434478) initially enlisted in the Air Training Corps on 3 March 1942 as a Cadet with 3 Cadet Wing HQ Brisbane. He enlisted in the RAAF as an Aircraftman II on 4 December 1942 at No 2 Recruiting Centre Brisbane.  Promoted to Leading Aircraftman on 27 February 1943, by 27 August he was promoted to Airman Pilot and then Flight Sergeant in February 1944. On 16 February 1944 Flight Sergeant Roche was attached to No 3 WAGS Maryborough when the Wacket A3-183 aircraft he was piloting had to make a forced landing due to engine failure. In February 1945 he was promoted to Warrant Officer, qualified to fly CAC Trainer, DH82, Wirraway and Avro Anson Aircraft. WA Roche was attached to 2 Operational Training Unit (OTU) Mildura at Disccharge on 3 October 1945.

Garth was born in Sydney, NSW in 1924, third of five children of Arthur James Roche (b1884 in London, England - although he gave his birthplace as Paris, France in 1916 in his Attestation Papers) and Grace Lillian Cartwright (b1894 in Maryborough, QLD). Arthur was a Printer when he immigrated in 1905, arriving in Sydney, NSW on board the Ormiston. By 1913 he was working in Brisbane as an Insurance Salesman before working as a Minister of Religion in Goondiwindi and Warwick. In 1916 Arthur enlisted in the AIF (Private; Service No:9743) and was attached to 11th Depot Battalion when he was Discharged six months later as medically unfit. Arthur was a Minister of Religion when he and Grace married in Maryborough, QLD in 1918. In 1919 they moved to Tasmania where Arthur worked as a Salesman before moving to Sydney, NSW in the late 1920s. Arthur was a Manager with Federal Business Assurance Coy in Sydney before moving to Southport, QLD where he was an Insurance Inspector until 1940. Arthur and Grace then settled in Brisbane where Arthur was an Organiser.

Garth worked in Brisbane, QLD as a Shop Assistant before enlisting in the RAAF. In 1945 in Melbourne he married Mary Elizabeth McGrath (b1925 in Bendigo, Victoria) - Mary served in the WAAAF (Service No:111058) and worked in Melbourne as a Presser before she enlisted. Garth and Mary had separated by 1949 and Mary returned to Melbourne where she worked as a Machinist before remarrying. Garth returned to Brisbane where he worked as a Clerk with the Postmaster General's Department and on weekends was employed as a Pilot by QLD Aerial Ambulance and Taxi Services. In 1960 in Brisbane, Garth remarried to Elizabeth Gillian Caplin (b1931 in Brighton, England) - Elizabeth was a Stenographer in 1955 when she immigrated, arriving in Sydney, NSW on board the Georgic. By the mid 1960s Garth and Elizabeth had settled in Melbourne, Victoria where they raised their family and Garth was a Pilot. Garth died in 2008 and Elizabeth in 2015.