Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Albert Charles Tucker known to his service as ‘Tommy’. Bert was allocated to the 86th Squadron which was formed at Gawler South Australia. His role in the squadron was as a supplies driver and officer transport. The Squadron moved to Townsville to complete their training and await their deployment to a theatre of conflict. The squadron was sent to Merauke, Dutch New Guinea. Merauke had experienced some Japanese air attacks. There was concern that they might use the south coast of New Guinea as a launching pad to move further south. The presence of the Squadron would prevent that. It was harsh living in the swamps with high humidity and constant attacks from mosquitoes (the insects).
The Squadron saw little local action but provides escort north of the location. The routine maintenance of the base and transport requirements continued unabated. Tommy, with his mates played their integral role in enabling attack readiness. They were key cogs in the war machine. Reading Tommy’s diary and viewing his photos the distinct impression is that he and his mates did their work loyally, there were also recreations times. Tommy treated local people and the Javanese trans-migrants with respect. The Squadron had to live with uncertainty during ever changing developments in the conflict with Japan. After about 18 months the Squadron returned to Townsville where it was disbanded. Bert was allocated to the 5 Repair and Servicing Unit. In that capacity he was sent to Morotai in the Maluku Islands. While there he had the honour of witnessing the signing of the Japanese surrender between the Australian, Field Marshall Blamey and the Japanese South Pacific command. Tommy made his contribution to the war effort with dignity and honour.