Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

With his four brothers and father, Corporal Edward Petterson served in WWII, enlisting in the RAAF at No 5 Recruiting Centre Adelaide on 17 September 1940 as an Aircraftman I - mustered as Trainee Rigger, re mustered as Fitter. Promoted to Leading Aircraftman, he served in the Northern Territory - attached to 12 Squadron at Pell and Batchelor, to 4 Repair and Service Unit (RSU) at Pell, and with 4 Operational Base Unit (OBU) at Birdum - and in Laverton with 1 Aircraft Deport (AD). Corporal Peterson was attached to 2 Transport and Movemnet Office at Discharge in Melbourne on 20 December 1945.

Edward was born in Hindmarsh, South Australia in 1920, third of five children of Harold Christian Peterson (b1893 in Stirling, Adelaide Hills, South Australia) and Catherine (Kate) Rebecca Gardner (b1894 in Wasleys via Gawler, South Australia). Harold and Kate - a Factory Worker - married in 1916 in Hindmarsh, and settled in Adelaide where they raised their family and Harold was a Typewriter and Adding Machine Mechanic.

Edward was described by his Head Teacher as 'an honest, straight-forward, manly lad, courteous in behavior, attentive in his work, intelligent and painstaking ... He was popular among his mates, and possessed qualities of leadership, being Captain of both football and cricket teams. He gained the Tucker Prize in 1933 for being the best 'all-round' boy in the school combining qualities of scholarship, leadership, poularity and skill in games' (Head Teacher, Glen Osmond Public School; NAA). A Clerk when he first left school, Edward was a Salesman in 1940 when he enlsted in the RAAF. In 1943 in Melbourne he married Neita Dorothy Irvine (b1922 in Melbourne, Victoria) - Neita was a Munition Worker. Edward and Neita divorced in the early 1960s and Neita settled in Melbourne, where she was Hotelkeeper, later remarrying. Edward died in 1981.