DOBBIE, Norman Clarence
| Service Number: | 430142 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 29 December 1942 |
| Last Rank: | Flying Officer |
| Last Unit: | No. 462 Squadron (RAAF) |
| Born: | Caulfield, Melbourne, Victoria, 12 January 1924 |
| Home Town: | Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Church Of England Grammar School, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Student |
| Died: | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 20 November 2023, aged 99 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Springvale Botanical Cemetery, Melbourne |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 29 Dec 1942: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flying Officer, 430142 | |
|---|---|---|
| 29 Jan 1944: | Embarked Royal Australian Air Force, Flying Officer, 430142, No. 462 Squadron (RAAF), embarked Australia for UK | |
| 19 May 1946: | Embarked Royal Australian Air Force, Flying Officer, 430142, No. 462 Squadron (RAAF), embarked UK for Melbourne on board Stirling Castle | |
| 29 Aug 1946: | Discharged Royal Australian Air Force, Flying Officer, 430142 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Flying Officer Norman Clarence Dobbie (Service No:430142) enlisted in the RAAF at No 1 RAAF Recruiting Centre Melbourne as an Aircraftman II and was attached to No 1 Initial Training School (ITS) Somers before promotion to LAC on 27 March 1943, then qualifying as Navigator/Flying Officer. Flying Officer Dobbie was attached to 462 Bomber Squadron in the UK as Navigator - flying thirteen sorties in Halifax III, NA240, Z5-V (he also was qualified with Oxford, Wellington, Battle and Dakota aircraft).FO Dobbie was in the UK from 29 January 1944 to 19 May 1946 and was Discharged on 29 August 1946.
Norm was born in Melbourne, Victoria in 1924, youngest of three children of Clarence Stanley Dobbie (b1889 in Launceston, Tasmania) and Ruby Elizabeth Penrose (b1892 in Melbourne, Victoria). In 1916 Clarence was a Jeweller when he and Ruby married in Melbourne, where they settled and raised their family.I n 1920 Clarence and his brother Cecil established Dobbie Bros Opticians. Clarence worked as an Optician and later as a Manufacturer when the business expanded to Dobbie Bros Optical and Scientific Instrument Co, producing various scientific instruments.
Norm was a Student at Church of England Grammar School in Melbourne before enlisting in the RAAF. Following his Discharge in 1946, he was working for the family company in Melbourne when in 1948 he married Jean Margeurite Huxley (b1925 in Devonport, Tasmania). Norm and Jean settled in Melbourne where they raised their family and Norm worked as Manager and then Managing Director of Dobbie Brothers - Opticial and Scientific Instrument Coy (producing various scientific instruments). Norm was a Life Subscription Member and Committee Member of The Odd Bods Assn (formed in 1947 for those who had served with allied squadrons - The Friends of the Odd Bods hold a service annually on Victory in Europe Day to remember all those who served with allied air forces in WWII). Norm and Jean divorced in 1971 - Jean died in 1979 and Norm was just short of his 100th birthday when he died in 2023.
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