GARDNER, John Robert
| Service Number: | 415131 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 21 July 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Flight Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | No. 466 Squadron (RAAF) |
| Born: | Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, 11 May 1922 |
| Home Town: | Fremantle, Fremantle, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Customs Clerk |
| Died: | Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, 2 March 2010, aged 87 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Woden (Canberra) Public Cemetery, ACT |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 21 Jul 1941: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Lieutenant, 415131 | |
|---|---|---|
| 16 Jun 1942: | Embarked Royal Australian Air Force, Flying Officer, 415131, 2 Embarkation Depot | |
| 21 Apr 1943: | Promoted Royal Australian Air Force, Pilot Officer, No. 460 Squadron (RAAF) | |
| 16 Nov 1943: | Honoured Distinguished Flying Cross, Commonwealth of Australia Gazette:18 November 1943 on page 2517 at position 20 London Gazette: 16 November 1943 on page 5025 at position 6 Citation: ‘Pilot Officer Gardner has completed many successful operations against the enemy in which he has displayed a high degree of skill, fortitude and devotion to duty’. (NAA) | |
| 5 Jul 1945: | Promoted Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Lieutenant, No. 466 Squadron (RAAF) | |
| 22 Feb 1946: | Discharged Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Lieutenant, 415131 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Flight Lieutenant John Robert Gardner DFC (Service No:415131) enlisted in the RAAF on 21 July 1941 as an Aircraftman II at No 4 Recruiting Cenntre Perth, and was promoted to Leading Aircraftman on 13 September 1941 at No 5 Initial Training School (ITS) Pearce. LAC Roberts was attached to No 4 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) Geraldton in December 1941. Embarking from Sydney for the UK on 16 June 1942, he served as Flying Officer and Pilot Officer n the UK with No 460 Squadron, flying Anson, Oxford, Wellington, Halifax and Lancaster aircraft. Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) on 16 November 1943, he was promoted to Flight Lieutenant on 5 July 1945 and embarked from the UK for Fremantle on board SS Athlone Castle on 30 November 1945. Flight Lieutenant Gardner was attached to No 466 Squadron at Discharge on 22 February 1946.
Youngest of five children, John was born in 1922 in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia to George Alexander Gardner (b1876 in Denilquin, NSW) and Rose Mary Mahoney (b1893 in Woodend, Victoria). George (a Miner) and Rose (a Waitress) married in 1911 in Kalgoorlie, WA where they settled and raised their family and George worked as a Pressman until his death in 1928. By 1930, Rose had moved with the children to Fremantle, where she remarried to James Arthur Compston (Service No:253).
John started work as a Civil Servant in 1939 with the Customs Department in Fremantle and was a Clerk in 1941 when he enlisted in the RAAF. Following his Discharge in 1946, John was in Fremantle when he married Helen Mary Daly (b1922 in Fremantle, WA). John and Helen settled in Canberra, ACT where they raised their family and John worked as a Civil Servant with the Departments of Immigration, Supply, and Trade and Customs before retiring in the mid 1980s. Helen died in 2009 and John in 2010.
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