BYRNE, John Adrian
| Service Number: | 254270 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 17 January 1942 |
| Last Rank: | Flight Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | Southern Area Headquarters (RAAF) |
| Born: | Steiglitz, Victoria, Australia, 6 February 1907 |
| Home Town: | Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Manager (Bendigo Motor Coy) |
| Died: | Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, 18 May 1971, aged 64 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Meredith Cemetery, Victoria |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 17 Jan 1942: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Lieutenant, 254270 | |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Apr 1942: | Embarked Royal Australian Air Force, Pilot Officer, 254270, embarked Adelaide for Middle East on board SS Takliwa (Cypher) | |
| 2 Jun 1943: | Honoured Mention in Dispatches, London Gazette: 2 June 1943 on page 2461 at position 2 Commonwealth of Australia Gazette: 24 June 1943 on page 1303 at position 18 | |
| 10 Oct 1944: | Embarked Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Lieutenant, 254270, embarked Middle East for Australia on board the Strathmore | |
| 10 Jan 1946: | Discharged Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Lieutenant, 254270, Southern Area Headquarters (RAAF) |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Flight Lieutenant (Squadron Leader) John Adrian Byrne (Service No:254270) enlisted as an Aircraftman I on 17 January 1942 at No 1 Recruiting Centre Melbourne, and was a Pilot Officer (Cypher) attached to Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) on 3 April 1942 when he embarked from Adelaide for the Middle East on board SS Takliwa. Promoted to Flying Officer in Malta in 1942, he was awarded a Mention in Despatches (June 1943). Flight Lieutenant Byrne embarked from the Middle East for Australia on 10 October 1944 on board the Strathmore, and was attached to Southern Area HQ when his Appointment was Terminated on 10 January 1946. He was the youngest of four siblings who served - Frank and Thomas in WWI, and Larry (also in the RAAF) in WWII.
Jock was born in Steiglitz, Victoria in 1907, youngest of seven children of Thomas Byrne (b1862 at Long Gully via Steiglitz, Victoria) and Susan Anastasia Byrne (b1871 in Meredith, Victoria). Thomas (a Labourer) and Susan married in 1892 in Steiglitz, where they settled and raised their family and Thomas was a Labourer.
Jock started work in Steiglitz as a Farm Hand, then moved to Ararat where he was a Salesman for WA Butt when, in 1936, he married Edith Muriel Scherger (b1915 in Ararat, Victoria). Jock and Edith lived in Hamilton and Kyneton, where Jock was Sales Manager (Ansett Motors) and Manager (Bendigo Motor Coy). Following the Termination of his Appointment in the RAAF, Jock and Edith settled in Ballarat, where they raised their family and Jock was a Salesman until his death in 1971. Edith died in 1994.
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