MACDONALD, Neil Ian
| Service Number: | 440438 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 31 December 1943 |
| Last Rank: | Flight Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
| Born: | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 30 August 1925 |
| Home Town: | Brisbane, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Student |
| Occupation: | Agricultural College Gatton, QLD |
| Died: | Cooroy, Queensland, Australia, 13 September 1980, aged 55 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Cooroy Cemetery, Queensland, Australia |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 31 Dec 1943: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 440438 | |
|---|---|---|
| 27 Nov 1945: | Discharged Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 440438 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Flight Sergeant Neil Ian Macdonald (Service No:440438) enlisted in the RAAF on 31 December 1943 at No 3 Recruiting Centre Brisbane as an Aircraftman II - mustered as Air Crew, re mustered as Air Gunner. Promoted to Flight Sergeant on 9 May 1945, he was attached to 24 Squadron at Discharge on 27 November 1945.
Ian (aka Mac) was born in Brisbane QLD in 1925, second of four children of Robert (Bob) Clement Macdonald (b1890 in Colorado, USA) and Effie Smellie Macfarlane (b1898 in Brisbane, QLD). Bob was a Carpenter in 1911 when he arrived in Brisbane on board the Kaipara, and he and Effie married in Brisbane in 1921. The couple lived in Atherton and Ayr before settling in Brisbane, where they raised their family and Bob was a Carpenter.
In 1942 Ian was awarded a Bursary by the Queensland Canegrowers' Association to attend Gatton Agricultural College, and was a student that year when he enlisted in the RAAF. Following his Discharge from the RAAF, Ian completed his studies, graduating from the University of Queensland in 1952. In the early 1950s in Brisbane, Ian married Vilma (Veda) Marie Pask (b1927 in Brisbane, QLD) - Veda was awarded the Commerccial Travellers' Association Scholarship in 1940, and was working as a Laboratory Technician/Reserach Assistant in Brisbane. In 1954 Ian and Veda settled in Cooroy near Noosa, where they set up a Veterinary Surgery in Tewantin and a Veterinary Practice in Cooroy. Ian was elected to Council in 1961, and was appointed Noosa Shire Chairman/Mayor in 1964. 'He is known for being the Mayor who entrenched Noosa on the tourism map. The former Six Mile Creek Dam was renamed Lake Macdonald in his honour .... During his terms in office, Noosa acquired more roads, water, sewerage, and a sound development base' (The Courier Mail; March 14, 2008). Ian died in 1980 and Veda in 2014.
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