Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of James Carbery BURGOYNE, 235 Balaclava Road, Caulfield, Victoria.

Graham is a veteran of the Second World War. When the war broke out, he was just 15 years old. When he was 16, Graham began working as a salesman at Lawrence and Hanson Electrical. He enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in September 1943. Graham underwent his recruit training at No. 1 Recruit Depot in Shepparton, Victoria. This was followed by training as a radio telephone operator in Melbourne – a course he did not enjoy! Instead, Graham retrained in the equipment section and in early 1944, was posted to RAAF Station Point Cook in Victoria.

In January 1944, Graham’s mother sadly died, and he says that the RAAF was very understanding. In August of the same year, Graham was to posted No.12 Aircraft Repair Depot in Darwin. Ten months later, he was transferred to No. 24 Squadron, then based on the island of Morotai in modern Indonesia. The squadron’s heavy bombers flew anti-shipping strikes and bombing missions in support of Allied operations around Borneo.

In July 1945, Graham moved with his unit to Balikpapan in Borneo after its recapture. Still in there at war’s end, Graham was responsible with packing up equipment to send back to Australia. He was assigned 15 Japanese prisoners to assist him. Graham mentioned that they were very thin and very frightened, but with the RAAF rations, and Graham’s kindness, they put on weight and worked well together.

Graham was discharged from the RAAF in May 1946. He says the best thing about serving was the friendships he formed, the travel, the feeling of contributing to the war effort and developing relationships with the Japanese prisoners, many of whom were only young teenagers.

After the war, Graham returned to work for Lawrence and Hanson, then moved on to Repco where he became branch manager. Graham eventually became sales manager for Repco Bearing Co, which required him to make 30 flights out of Launceston every year.

In 1969, Graham married Hannelore. Sadly, Hannelore passed away in 2018. Graham’s family includes one son, 2 stepdaughters, 3 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren.