HENRY, Alvin Ernest
| Service Number: | 3512 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 15 June 1938 |
| Last Rank: | Leading Aircraftman |
| Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
| Born: | Prahran, Victoria, Australia, 26 January 1916 |
| Home Town: | Prahran, Stonnington, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Electrical Artficer/Engineer |
| Died: | Aortal aneurism, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 9 April 1973, aged 57 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 15 Jun 1938: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Leading Aircraftman, 3512 | |
|---|---|---|
| 17 Aug 1945: | Discharged Royal Australian Air Force, Leading Aircraftman, 3512 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Robin Henry
Joe, as he preferred to be called, joined the RAAF in 1938 as a flight engineer and in 1939 was posted to the United Kingdom with 10 Squadron to ferry a fleet of Short Sunderland flying boats back to Australia.
When war broke out, the Australian Government decided to permanently assign 10 Squadron to maritime patrol duties working out of Pembroke Dock in Wales. The squadron remained in service and was the first RAAF squadron in the UK and the last to leave.
On return to Australia he was posted to the Flying Boat Repair Depot at Lake Boga, Victoria and did a stint at Melville Island, Northern Territory.
After discharge in 1945 he worked first at the Commonwealth Serum Laboratory in Melbourne and then at various other locations as an electrical and mechanical engineer.
He was a member of several Returned Services League Clubs and President at Barraba, NSW during 1971 until his demise in 1973.
While working at Chrysotile Corporation's asbestos mine at Barraba, NSW as Engineering Superintendent he suffered a disecting aortal aneurism and although flown to sydney for surgery, died the following evening. He left an Army veteran wife and two children.
He is remembered as a kind, generous, and loyal person with a keen sense of humour and has been described by colleauges who worked with him as a "brilliant engineer".
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