Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

JACK Tune overcame a severe wartime wound to establish a long and distinguished career in accountancy .

Jack was serving in the navy during World War II on the HMAS Toowoomba, off the east coast of Africa, when a gunbattle broke out with a German ship. He sustained head, arm and hand injuries and was transported to the Maldives. After an operation, gangrene set in and he was transferred to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), where he was told his arm would be amputated.

However, the surgeon made a last-ditch effort with antiseptic dressing, cod-liver oil and vaseline. And it worked.

After rehabilitating on a tea estate, Petty Officer Tune returned to active service on several ships, including the HMAS Arunta, for the rest of the war.

He went ashore with a landing party at Hiroshima after the dropping of the atomic bomb. This had a marked effect on him and he later wrote about it. Jack described being approached through the rubble by a young Japanese man who spoke English and invited him to his home, miraculously undamaged, where he was offered tea.

Polite conversation ensued and Jack was aware of a “certain warmth of feeling” , which caused him to reflect on the human face of war, so often forgotten in the heat of battle.

Born 100 years ago, Jack was an inaugural student at Colonel Light Gardens Primary when it opened in 1926. His father John was the first chair of the school’s parent committee and mother Winifred was also involved in many community groups, while Jack grew up with sisters Sylvia and Sally. Young Jack played cricket and soccer, was a Scout, and enjoyed family singalongs around the piano. John had a fine singing voice and this experience contributed to Jack’s lifelong enjoyment of music.

He went to Unley High during the Great Depression, taking a commercial course. After Year 11 Jack became an office boy with a real estate firm, earning eight shillings a week. He joined the public service in 1937 and began accountancy studies at night.

Returning to Adelaide after the war, Jack met Helen Nancarrow , and they married in 1948. The partnership would last 72 years. They moved to a war-service home in Manningham , gradually adding rooms throughout the 50s and 60s to accommodate five children – Jennifer, Christine, David, Catherine and Robert. Jack’s family remember him as always busy and happy, involved in his children’s lives and singing Gilbert and Sullivan songs.

By 1951 he had set up his own accountancy practice, which led to partnerships in a number of successful Adelaide accounting firms. Further studies added chartered accountancy to his qualifications.

On retirement, Jack received a certificate acknowledging 70 years of service. He was known for being able to communicate with people from different walks of life and translating theory into practice in understandable terms.

Jack worked in the wine industry and was engaged by governments in a number of roles, representing industry associations and appearing before senate standing committees. He was a founding member of the former SA Builders’ Licensing Board. After retirement, he was chairman of the SA Small Business Corporation for 10 years.

Jack continued his interest in wine in his leisure years when he and Helen bought a Clare Valley cottage. He also enjoyed having the time for travel, the arts, volunteering and the family.

Jack was convivial, a lover of good conversation and telling stories. He was kind, generous , ethical and loyal and was thrilled to receive letters from the Queen and other dignitaries when he turned 100 in March, a fitting end to a long, happy and successful life.

He is survived by Helen, Jennifer, Christine, David, Catherine and Robert, 10 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren .


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