Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Biography Supplied

John McAuley was born in Murray Bridge on 30 June 1924.  He enlisted in the RAAF on 26 August 1942 at the rank of Aircraftman and commenced training as a Radio Operator.

Following training in Victoria and NSW, John served at Townsville’s Alligator Creek station. In the second half of 1943 he was transferred to Dutch New Guinea where his team operated a strategic radar site while living in jungle conditions under constant threat of enemy attack. John served in New Guinea until the war ended in 1945.  

John was demobolised in 1945 and the following year, as well as getting married to Margaret, he enrolled in a Bachelor of Economics at the University of Adelaide (as part of the Chifley Government’s Post-War Retraining Scheme).  John and his wife moved to Sydney where he worked as an economist in the Commonwealth Bank, prior to joining the State Bank and serving as its Shief Economist. He was Treasurer of the United Nations Association of Australia and wrote a quarterly newsletter for former RAAF radar operators for over 24 years.

In 1946, John married Margaret O’Connor and they were married for 65 years until Margaret’s passing in 2011.  Now 100 years old, John has three children, nine grandchildren and 30 great grandchildren.  John believes strongly that war is not to be glorified but that he met many heroes whose contributions went unrecognised.