Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Flight Lieutenant Donald Campbell Huxley (Service No:407060) initially served in St Peter's College Cadets Adelaide with 27th Battalion before enlisting in the RAAF at No 5 Recruiting Centre Adelaide on 27 May 1940 as an Aircraftman II. Promoted to Leading Aircraftman in July, LAC Huxley was attached through 1940 to No 1 Recruit Depot Laverton Vic, No 1 Initial Training School (ITS) Somers, No 1 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) Parafield and No 1 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) Point Cook. In January 1941 he was on board Avron Anson No: 1333 at No 1 Flying Trainig School (FTS) Sorrento when it had engine failure and crashed. Through 1941 he was promoted to Sergeant and then Flight Sergeant, and in January 1942 was Service Instructor at No 8 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) Narrandera and No 5 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) Uranquinty. Promoted to Warrant Officer in April 1942,  Pilot Officer in December 1943, Flying Officer in June 1943 and Flight Lieutenant in December 1945. On 1 January 1945, Flying Officer Huxley was awarded the King's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air '.... has at all times displayed ability and devotion to duty of the highest order and has always taken the keenest interest in his pupils. He has completed a total of 2250 flying hours, of which 290 hours have been flown in the last six months' (AWM; 1945). In 1945 (March to November) he carried out an operational tour with 80 Squadron in Morotai and Tarakan, and his Commanding Officer wrote that he '.... carried out his duties in a most capable and energetic manner .... He has ability above the average, backed by sound judement' (NAA). Flight Lieutenant Huxley was attached to 80 Squadron at Discharge on  8 January 1946.

Born at Currie on King Island, Tasmania in 1921, Don was the second of three children of Frederick (Fred) George Huxley MC (b1892 in Currie, King Island, Tasmania) and Lily Maud Emily Webb (b1888 at Emu Bay, Tasmania). Fred had worked as a Farm Labourer, Jockey and Storekeeper in Currie before enlisting in the AIF and AFC in WWI (Service No:1119) and was a Storekkeper in Currie in 1918 when he and Lily married. They lived on King Island - where Fred was a Dairy Farmer - until 1922 when the family moved to Longreach/Cloncurry, QLD where Fred was Chief Pilot with QANTAS. Joining the Shell Coy in 1923, Fred was Aviation Officer in Melbourne and Tasmania before settling in Adelaide , where he worked for the Shell Coy and during WWII served as Pilot Instructor with the RAAF.

Following completion of his education at St Peter's College Adelaide, where he served with the Cadets (27th Battalion), Don was a Junior Clerk in Adelaide when he enlisted in the RAAF in 1940. In 1944 in Sydney, NSW Don married Margaret Veronica Hill (b1923 in St Leonard's, NSW) and, following their Divorce in 1962, Don remarried to Alice Sylvia Lipmann (b1920 in Adelaide, South Australia). Following his Discharge, Don worked in Sydney, NSW as a Shipping Clerk before moving to Wallsend, Newcastle in 1949 where he was Chief Flying Instructor. By 1954 he was in Sydney, NSW working as a Flying Instructor before becoming an Airport Manager at Bradfield, NSW, and by 1977 in Melbourne, Victoria. Don and Alice returned to Adelaide in 1980, where Don died in 1988. Alice died in 2010.