Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Flight Lieutenant Mark William Edgerley (Service No:417466) was a Student Cadet when he enlisted in the RAAF on 23 May 1942 at No 5 Recruiting Centre Adelaide as an Aircraftman II. He was posted to No 4 Initial Training School (ITS) Victor Harbour and then as Leading Aircraftman in 1942 was attached to No 2 Air Observers' School (AOS) Mt Gambier and No 2 Bombing and Gunnery School (BAGS) Port Pirie. Promoted to Pilot Officer on 4 February 1943, he was attached to No 2 Air Navigation School (ANS) Mt Gambier before embarking from Melbourne for Liverpool via Halifax, Canada on 6 March 1943. In the UK, Pilot Officer Edgerley was promoted to Flying Officer and was quailified to fly Lancaster Bombers (29 sorties), Anson, Vickers, Wellington, Stirling and Liberator aircraft. In the UK, PO Edgerley was attached to 11 Personnel Despatch and Receiving Centre (PDRC) Somerset, 9 Advanced Flying Unit (AFU) and 27 Operational Training Unit (OTU) RAF Lichfield (which was part of No 6 Group RAF Bomber Command). On 19 July 1944 PO Edgerley was attached to 467 Squadron (mustered as Navigator) in a Lancaster Bomber on a mission to Revigny, France when he was reported missing - the plane was hit by enemy fire and crashed. PO Edgerley suffered back injuries but returned safely to England. In February 1945 he was promoted to Flight Lieutenant, returning to Australia in January 1946 and attached to 1332 Heavy Conversion Unit (HCU) at Discharge on 4 March 1946.

Mark was born in Riverton, South Australia in 1923 to William Frederick Edgerley (b1895 in Cornwall, England) and Vera Kelly (b1894 at Giles Corner, South Australia). William immigrated with his parents and siblings in 1913, arriving in Adelaide on board the Runic. William was a Farmer in 1919 when he and Vera married in Riverton, South Australia - William had served in WWI (Lieutenant) and WWII (Captain). William and Vera lived in Riverton and Birdwood where theyr aised their family and William was a Farmer, before settling in Adelaide in 1940 where William was a Manager.

Mark attended Price Alfred College in Adelaide before enlisting in the RAAF. He was in England in 1945 when he married Joyce Margaret Bourne (B1923 in Essex, England). Mark and Joyce returned to Adelaide, where Mark completed studies at the University of Adelaide before moving to Canberra, ACT in 1948 where he studied at the Australian Forestry School. In 1949 Mark and Joyce moved back to Adelaide, and Mark joined the Public Service (Forestry Service) as a Forester. In 1961 they moved to Port Macquarie, NSW where Mark was a Manager with Heron's Creek Timber Mill until 1965. Mark and Joyce settled in Canberra, where Mark worked as a Public Servant. Mark was a member of the Commonwealth Forestry Association, and member and President of the Institute of Foresters Australia. Mark died in 1988 and Joyce in 2003.