Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Completed by Mt Compass Area School

Eric Wesley Tomlinson was born on the 12th of July 1924 in Loxton, South Australia. His parents Evelyn Katie and Harry Lawrence originated from Britain. He was the second eldest out of three brothers (Lawerence, Geoff and Bob) plus his two sisters (Margret and Nancy) (Ancestry, 2024). The family of eight lived on a small farm at Taplan in the Murray Mallee area near Loxton where his family cropped wheat and barley while owning a few sheep. The children were sent to Concordia, a small school with about ten other students from around the district. Eric spent his childhood playing many sports including football, cricket, tennis, swimming and baseball. Dropping out of school at the age of fourteen, to find a career and support his family.

Before Eric’s enlistment into the war, he developed interest in becoming a clerk or an accountant, but later decided that he wanted to be a stock agent in Loxton, at Bennet and Fisher (like Elders). Although, his working years were cut short when World War II was declared. Eric knew that he wanted to protect his country. On the 29th of December 1942, at just eighteen years of age Eric enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) alongside his brother Lawrence (Laurie) who enlisted in the army (National Archieves Australia, 2024). Originally Eric had enlisted as a pilot but because of his colour blindness was not able to train. Instead, he enlisted as a trainee technician and was soon declared fit for training.

Eric was sent to Victoria where he spent the next six months in a pre-enlistment educational program at the RAAF, training to be a flight rigger. This education consisted of developing skills about repairing damaged airframes on Beaufort Bombers. Multiple tests were conducted that were quite hard for Eric as he had dropped out of school at a young age. Once training and tests were complete, he was assigned as leading aircraftman (LAC) and was sent to Papua New Guinea in the RAAF 6th Quadrant (Beaufort Bombers) (National Archives of Australia, 2022).

The Beaufort Bombers were manufactured in Britain in 1939 to be used for their fast and agile capabilities. These bombers were a key part to World War II, and Eric worked very closely with them for the coming years. Beaufort Bombers were a crucial part in World War II, they were used to bomb and attack the Japanese troop positions, supply depos, ships, ammunition dumps, command and control centres in various part of New Guinea. In figure 2,3 and 4 (RAAF, 1943) it shows the Beaufort Bomber that Eric worked on in the war. In figure 4 (RAAF, 1943) the image displays his training team right before they left to defend their country.

Eric went to many places in Papua New Guinea including Port Moresby, Goodenough Island, Dobodura, Rabaul and Milne Bay (Tomlinson, 2024). He spent the next few months between December of 1942 to February 1945 repairing the damages on the Beaufort Bombers frame. While battling in the Beaufort Bombers and fighting in the war many of the soldiers including Eric suffered from Malaria, a mosquito infected disease that spread like wildfire through the soldiers base. Fortunately for him treatment worked, and he was soon back into the action. Eric spent the majority of his time at bases, usually behind the army. This meant that if the Japanese were planning on surprise attacks the RAAF could fight back before it would cause any major damages. Eric dodged multiple injuries during his serving time. This meant that he did not return home to Australia very often.

During his time in the war, he only received two telegrams which both contained bad news. The first one informed him that that his mother was very ill and the second one telling him that his mother had passed. Eric was very close to his mother, so he was heartbroken. She had died from high blood pressure also known as a stroke while he was in Papua New Guinea (Tomlinson, 2024). The next few months for him were excruciating and he was longing to be home with his family.

Eric’s journey in the World War II went on for a total of fourteen months before he was finally discharged in 1946 (National Archives of Australia, 2022). When he arrived home life was not the same without his beloved mother. The Tomlinson family were left heartbroken from Evelyn’s death. The family decided they needed a change. All the family including Eric and his siblings moved out of their home. Around this time, Eric’s father, Harry, decided to lease their family farm as it was just too much for him. With all the chaos Eric went back to his pervious company and was promoted to branch manager at Bennet and Fisher stock agency in Loxton. He was a determined worker and was an extremely good auctioneer. The images shown in figures 5 and 6 (Bennet and Fisher, 1947) are a few of his sales. Eric auctioned sheep to big crowds in Loxton before entering into the war. His sale rates were very high, and costumers were always recommended to buy from him.

Living in Loxton, Eric met a local woman named Val and they became inseparable. This quickly lead to them marrying early 1950 and it was the start of their journey as a married couple. Only a year later they had their first child Roger (my grandfather). Subsequently their daughter Sharon and another son named Bruce were born shortly after. The children had a joyful early childhood living in Loxton before transferring in 1953 to Bordertown where Eric would continue his career of being a stock agent at Bennet and Fisher. Living in Bordertown the children invested their time in sports and schooling. Bordertown was Eric and Val’s hometown for just over twenty-five years before the couple moved to Riverton. The children also moved in separate directions to start their own families and careers.

Eric retired at Bennet and Fisher after working for the company for over forty-two years from the age of 15 years old to 57. He was presented awards for his time and was invited to a reunion (shown in figure 8 and 9 (Bennet and Fisher, 1984)) to thank him for his time working at the company. Eric was a well-respected man at Bennet and Fisher and his coworkers were sad to see him leave.

Eric and Val moved to McLaren Flat in 1984 to retire from Riverton, a chance to see different scenery. Unfortunately, his health rapidly declined, so he spent his last years in a nursing home where he passed on the 26th of April 2009 at the age of eight four (Tomlinson, 2024).

Eric was a well-respected man, and his service was so incredibly important as he fixed damages on a lot of Beaufort Bombers. His determination to be involved in the war even being colour blind is truly inspiring. His service is displayed on monument in The South Australian Garden of Remembrance to remember him for his sacrifices and hard work, “He was a hard worker and was involved in a lot of the community organisations and sports including playing bowls and golf. Dad was a quietly spoken person but loved playing instruments mainly the trumpet in the Bordertown Brass Band,  (Tomlinson, 2024).

References
Ancestry , N/A. Eric Wesley Tomlinson. [Online]
Available at: https://www.ancestry.com.au/genealogy/records/eric-wesley-tomlinson-24-3656kr4
[Accessed 8 July 2024].

Australian War Memorial, 2024. No. 6 Squadron. [Online]
Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/
[Accessed 18 August 2024].

DJ, 2023. Eric W Tomlinson. [Online]
Available at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/248476258/eric-w-tomlinson
[Accessed 3 August 2024].

Genealogy SA, N/A. Search Results- Eric Wesley Tomlinson. [Online]
Available at: https://www.genealogysa.org.au/index.php?option=com_gsa&view=gsa&layout=essearch&Itemid=193&collection_id=misc&page_no=1&sort_by=&sort_direction=asc&Surname=tomlinson&GivenName=eric&year_from=&accuracy=&ShipName=
[Accessed 27 August 2024].

National Archives of Australia, 2022. RecordSearch. [Online]
Available at: https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=5305670&isAv=N
[Accessed 11 August 2024].

Tomlinson, G., 2024. Eric Wesley Tomlinson's Life [Interview] (August 2024).

Tomlinson, R., 2024. Eric Tomlinson's Life [Interview] (August 2024).

Tomlinson, V., 2024. Eric Wesley Tomlinson's Life [Interview] (August 2024).

Virtual War Memorial Australia , N/A. Eric Wesley TOMLINSON. [Online]
Available at: https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/522023
[Accessed 9 August 2024].