LOONEY, John Staunton
| Service Number: | 406507 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 6 January 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Warrant Officer |
| Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
| Born: | Bunbury, Western Australia, 20 April 1917 |
| Home Town: | Perth, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Claremont Teachers' Training College, Western Australia |
| Occupation: | Teacher |
| Died: | Perth, Western Australia, 17 October 1997, aged 80 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Karrakatta Cemetery & Crematorium, Western Australia |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 6 Jan 1941: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Warrant Officer, 406507 | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Sep 1941: | Embarked Royal Australian Air Force, Sergeant, 406507, embarked Fremantle for Middle East | |
| 15 Jun 1944: | Embarked Royal Australian Air Force, Warrant Officer, 406507, embarked Bombay for Melbourne | |
| 15 Jun 1945: | Discharged Royal Australian Air Force, Warrant Officer, 406507 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Second of four siblings who served in the RAAF in WWII - both older and younger brothers (Paul and Pat) were KiA. Warrant Officer John Staunton Looney OAM (Service No:406507) enlisted in the RAAF at No 4 Recruiting Centre Perth on 6 January 1941 as an Aircraftman I - mustered as Air Observer, re mustered as Navigator. Promoted to Sergeant on 22 August 1941, he served in the Middle East (RAF Middle East Pool) in Kasafareet, Ismailia and Almaza; and in India and Ceylon (Colombo, Peshawar and Chittagong) with 11 Squadron, 21 Ferry Control and 152 Operational Training Unit. Warrant Officer Looney embarked from Bombay for Melbourne on 15 May 1944, and was attached to 32 Squadron at Discharge on 15 June 1945.
John was born in Bunbury, Western Australia in 1917, second of four children of William (Will) Paul Higgins/Looney (b1878 at Canning Landing, Fremantle, Western Australia) and Victoria Agnes Hehir (b1886 in Huntly, Bendigo, Victoria). Will was a Telegraphist (previously a Labourer) in Kalgoorlie and Agnes a Barmaid at Daveyhurst via Menzies when they married in Kalgoorlie in 1913. Will and Agnes settled in Bunbury in 1914, where they raised their family and Will was a Telegraphist. In 1922 the family was in the Kalgoorlie region - Israelite Bay, Rawlinna and Kanowna - where Will was Chief Telegraphist. In the late 1920s Agnes and the children settled in Perth, where Will died in 1942.
John studied at Claremont Teachers' Training College, and was a Teacher in Woodanilling via Katanning in 1940 when he enlisted in the RAAF. Following his Discharge, in 1948 in Geraldton, John married Margaret Mary Mauretta Rodan (b1921 in Gerladton, Western Australia) - Margaret was a Clerk in Geraldton. John worked with the Western Australian Education Department until retirement - Canning, Perth, Manning, where they raised their family. By the 1960s, official records use the surname 'Loney'. In the Australia Day 1992 Honours List, John was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (General Division) 'For services to Disadvantaged people through the Society of St Vincent de Paul' (Trove; 1992). John died in 1997 and Margaret in 2015.
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