James Padman (Jim) KELLY OAM

KELLY , James Padman

Service Number: 437942
Enlisted: 24 April 1943
Last Rank: Warrant Officer
Last Unit: Not yet discovered
Born: Riverton, South Australia, 14 January 1925
Home Town: Giles Corner, Clare and Gilbert Valleys, South Australia
Schooling: Prince Alfred College, Kent Town, South Australia
Occupation: Farmer
Died: Naracoorte, South Australia, 21 December 2015, aged 90 years, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery: Carinya Gardens Cemetery, Mount Gambier, South Australia
Memorials: Tarlee War Memorial
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World War 2 Service

24 Apr 1943: Involvement Warrant Officer, 437942
24 Apr 1943: Enlisted Adelaide
24 Apr 1943: Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Warrant Officer, 437942
7 Jan 1946: Discharged
Date unknown: Involvement

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Biography contributed by Chris Buckley

Warrant Officer James Padman Kelly OAM (Service No:437942) enlisted in the RAAF on 24 April 1943 at No 5 Recruiting Centre Adelaide as an Aircraftman II and was promoted to Leading Aircraftman on 14 June 1943. LAC Kelly was attached to No 1 Initial Training School (ITS) Somers, and No 1 Wirelss and Gunnery School (WAGS) Ballarat. In 1944 he was promoted Sergeant then Flight Serrgeant and was attached to No 1 Embarkation Depot (ED) Melbourne and No 11 Personnel Despatch and  Receiving Centre (PDRC) RAAF in Somerset England. Flight Sergeant Kelly served in England from 29 January 1945 to 4 November 1945 and was promoted to Warrant Officer on 6 July 1945. In England, WO Kelly was attached to No 8 Adavnced Flying Unit (AFU), and No 21 Operational Training Unit (OTU). WO Kelly was attached to 9 Aircrew Holding Unit at Discharge on 7 January 1946.

Jim was born in Riverton, South Australia in 1925 to John Gould Kelly (b1895 at Giles Corner, South Australia) and Maud (Queenie) Lillian Padman (b1895 in Middleton, South Australia). John was a Farmer/Grazier at Giles Corner in 1921 when he and Queenie married in Kent Town. John had served in WWI (Private; Service No:291) and he and Queenie settled at Giles Corner where they raised their family and John was a Farmer/Grazier. Following Queenie's death in 1937, John remarried.

Jim was a Farmer with his father at Giles Corner when he enlisted in the RAAF. Following his Discharge he married Lorna Gray (b1930 in Adelaide, South Australia) and was a Farmer at High Farm in Naracoorte. In 1987 Jim was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for servcies to the Community. Lorna died in 1982 and Jim in 2015.

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