STARK, Kenneth Lawrence
| Service Number: | 65468 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 2 June 1942 |
| Last Rank: | Leading Aircraftman |
| Last Unit: | RAAF Stores Depots |
| Born: | Mount Gambier, South Australia, 25 August 1907 |
| Home Town: | Eastwood, Ryde, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Ashfield Junior Technical College, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Commercial Traveller |
| Died: | Narrabeen, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 10 October 2006, aged 99 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 2 Jun 1942: | Involvement 65468 | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Jun 1942: | Enlisted Woolloomooloo, NSW | |
| 2 Jun 1942: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Leading Aircraftman, 65468 | |
| 14 Mar 1944: | Transferred Royal Australian Air Force, Leading Aircraftman, RAAF Stores Depots, No 17 Stores Unit Finschafen, Dutch New Guinea | |
| 26 Sep 1945: | Discharged |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Ken was the second of five children of George Campbell Stark (born 1880 in Scotland) and Gertrude Billing (born 1872 in Mt Gambier, South Australia). George, a Carpenter, arrived in Sydney NSW with his parents and siblings in 1883 on board the Euterpe. George was a Clerk when he married Gertrude in Perth, WA in 1905. The family moved to Sydney, NSW and in 1920 purchased 'Fernleigh' in Meadowbank, Sydney NSW.
Ken worked as a Warehouseman and Commercial Traveller and in 1930 he married Mary Amy Enid Bickford (born 1907 in Sydney, NSW). Ken served with the Volunteer Defence Corps as a Corporal (Service No:457115) with 2nd Remount Squadron and E Coy 11th Battalion from 1939 to 1942. In June 1942 he enlisted in the RAAF as an Aircraftman (Service No:65468). In 1944 his request for Discharge on compassionate grounds (his father George was dying of stomach cancer and wife Mary had major surgery and was unable to care for their four young children - including twins) was not approved. Ken was a Leading Aircraftman when he served at Finschafen, Dutch New Guinea from 14 March 1944 to 16 June 1944 with No 17 Stores Unit. He was attached to 2 Stores Depot Waterloo when he was Discharged in September 1945. Ken's father-in-law - Ernest John Bickford and four Brothers-in-Law served in WWI, and three of his Bickford Brothers-in-Law served in WWII.
Ken returned to Sydney and worked as a Warehouseman. He and Mary Divorced and in 1956 Ken remarried to Betty Gladys, a Clerk. Ken and Betty lived at Seaforth in Sydney, NSW where Ken was a Manager. Ken died in 2006 and Betty in 2011.
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