COLLETT, Francis Kenrick
| Service Number: | 23333 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 12 August 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 3 Personnel Depot |
| Born: | Ipswich, Queensland, Australia, 30 September 1913 |
| Home Town: | Ipswich, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Ipswich Grammar School, Queensland, Australia |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Ipswich, Queensland, Australia, 2 March 2013, aged 99 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 12 Aug 1940: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Sergeant, 23333 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Oct 1940: | Transferred Royal Australian Air Force, Aircraftman, No. 24 Squadron (RAAF) | |
| 1 Jul 1941: | Promoted Royal Australian Air Force, Leading Aircraftman, No. 24 Squadron (RAAF) | |
| 4 Mar 1942: | Transferred Royal Australian Air Force, Leading Aircraftman, No. 75 Squadron (RAAF) | |
| 1 Dec 1942: | Promoted Royal Australian Air Force, Corporal, No. 75 Squadron (RAAF) | |
| 1 May 1945: | Promoted Royal Australian Air Force, Sergeant, 3 Personnel Depot | |
| 31 Oct 1945: | Discharged Royal Australian Air Force, Sergeant, 23333 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Sergeant Francis Kenrick Collett (Service No:23333) enlisted in the RAAF on 12 August 1940 as an ACI at HQ Amberley - mustered initiallyas a Messman and later as Steward. Promoted to LAC on 1 July 1941, he served with 24, 75 and 11 Squadrons and was promoted to Sergeant on 1 May 1945. Sergeant Collett was attached to 3 Personnel Depot (Staff) at Discharge on 31 October 1945.
Frank was fourth of nine children, born in 1913 in Ipswich, QLD to Rowland Francis Collett (b1872 in London, England) and his third wife Louisa Frances DeLong (b1883 in Ipswich, QLD). Rowland (a Clerk) had immigrated from the Channel Islands with his parents and siblings in 1884, arriving in Fremantle WA on board the Glen Goil. Rowland worked as a Clerk in Perth and Geraldton and was part owner of the Denver City Hotel in Coolgardie WA before moving to Brisbane, and then Ipswich. Rowland served in both Wars - in WWI as a Private (Service No:618) and in WWII with the ACMF as a Staff Sergeant (Service No:Q164787).
Frank worked at the Garden of Eden Plantations via Murwillumbah, NSW as a Labourer and a Shop Assistant and Labourer in Ipswich prior to his enlistment in the RAAF. In 1943 in Brisbane QLD, he married Beverely Faithfull (b1921 in Maryborough, QLD) and following his Discharge, the couple settled in Ipswich QLD where Frank was a Public Servant - working as a Postal Officer with the Post Master General's Department and a Clerk with Telecom. Frank died in 2013 and Beverley in 2016.
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