GUM, Bertram John
| Service Number: | 140628 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 29 June 1943 |
| Last Rank: | Leading Aircraftman |
| Last Unit: | No. 24 Squadron (RAAF) |
| Born: | Adelaide, South Australia, 1 June 1925 |
| Home Town: | Willowie, Mount Remarkable, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farm Hand |
| Died: | Natural Causes, Kangaroo Island South Australia, 10 May 2010, aged 84 years |
| Cemetery: |
Kingscote Cemetery (Kangaroo Island), S.A. Plot 713 |
| Memorials: | Parndana Kangaroo Island Ex-Servicemen Land Settlers 1939-1945 Roll, Willowie WW2 Roll of Honour |
World War 2 Service
| 29 Jun 1943: | Involvement 140628 | |
|---|---|---|
| 29 Jun 1943: | Enlisted Adelaide | |
| 29 Jun 1943: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Leading Aircraftman, 140628 | |
| 19 Mar 1946: | Discharged Royal Air Force , Leading Aircraftman, No. 24 Squadron (RAAF) |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Di Barrie
Bertram John Gum was born at Adelaide 1 June 1925, the second child of Bertram Gordon and Doris May (nee Bolitho) Gum. Bertram and Doris leased land in the Hundred of Coomoroo, then moved to Adelaide for a period of time before they returned to the Amyton district to manage a farm for one of Bertram’s cousins. John, as he was known, was a farm hand working with his father when he enlisted for service in the RAAF 29 of June 1943, at No. 5 Recruiting Centre – Adelaide. He was remustered to aircraftman.
At the end of July 1943 he was transferred to the No. 1 Operational Training Unit (No. 1 OTU), an operational conversion unit of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).
7 September 1944 John was transferred to No 2 Reserve Personnel Pool (No. 2 RPP) but three days later he joined 24 Squadron RAAF based out of Fenton in the Northern Territory. Three months earlier, 24 squadron was one of the first to be re-equipped with the Consolidated B24 Liberator, a heavy bomber.
At Fenton the squadron became part of 82 (Heavy Bomber) Wing and conducted bombing raids against targets in the Netherlands East Indies. Between January and April 1945 attacks were made on power stations in east Java, an enemy convoy near Koepang, and troop concentrations at Tawao.
In May 1945 the wing moved to Morotai where, in support of ‘Operation‘Oboe’, it intensified its bombing raids against Borneo and the Indies. John was servicing aircraft which were assisting in raids on Labuan, Tanamon, Borneo, and other islands.
With the cessation of hostilities in August and the end of the Second World War the squadron flew numerous transport missions, returning former prisoners of war and troops back to Australia. John was discharged from the RAAF 5 March 1946 and was accepted for war service land settlement, moving down to the Naracoorte area of the South East of South Australia in January 1947 for work experience in high rainfall grazing country.
March 16 1950 John married Marion Harkness in the Apsley Presbyterian Church. They moved to Kangaroo Island where John became leading hand of a dozer gang before taking over and farming Section 82, Hundred of Duncan. They had three children.
John Bertram Gum passed away 11 May 2010 aged 84 years, and is buried at Kingscote Cemetery, Kangaroo Island, Section A Row 5 Plot 713.
Excerpt taken from book "Diggers From the Dust"(2018) Di Barrie & Andrew Barrie
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