Alfred Edward METCALFE

METCALFE, Alfred Edward

Service Numbers: 988, PM4143
Enlisted: 10 September 1926
Last Rank: Engine Room Artificer IV
Last Unit: HMAS Lonsdale (Depot / Base)
Born: Williamstown, Victoria, Australia, 7 May 1906
Home Town: Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Fitter and Turner
Died: Auckland, New Zealand, 1969, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery: Purewa Public Cemetery, Auckland, New Zealand
Memorials:
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World War 2 Service

10 Sep 1926: Enlisted 988, Aircraft / Repair / Salvage Depots
9 Aug 1929: Discharged 988, Aircraft / Repair / Salvage Depots
15 Nov 1941: Enlisted Royal Australian Navy, Engine Room Artificer IV, PM4143, HMAS Cerberus (Shore)
15 Dec 1941: Enlisted Royal Australian Navy, Petty Officer, PM4143
28 May 1945: Discharged Royal Australian Navy, Petty Officer, PM4143
29 May 1945: Discharged Royal Australian Navy, Engine Room Artificer IV, PM4143, HMAS Lonsdale (Depot / Base)
Date unknown: Involvement Engine Room Artificer IV, PM4143, HMAS Lonsdale (Depot / Base)

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Biography contributed by Chris Buckley

Alfred was the second of four children of Albert Edward Metcalfe (born 1880 in Castlemaine, Victoria) and Mary Louisa Farrar (born 1881 in Yorkshire). Albert worked in the Textile Trade and was a Woollen Warper in 1903 when he married Mary. Mary had arrived in Brisbane QLD on board the Dorunda with her mother and siblings in 1891 and the family joined their father in Castlemaine, Victoria where Mary worked as a Weaver before her marriage.

Alfred served a five year apprenticeship as a Fitter, and served six years in the Naval Reserves before enlisting in the RAAF on 10 September 1926. He served as an AC1/Fitter DMT (Service No:988) with No1 Aircraft Depot and No3 Squadron and was Discharged on 9 August 1929. He was working as a Fitter and Turner in 1934 when he married Dorothy Beatrice Hempel (born 1906 in Williamstown, Victoria) at St Paul's Cathedral in Melbourne. 

In December 1941 Alfred enlisted in the RAN, serving as an ERA IV (Service no:PM4143) on HMAS Cerberus, Penguin, Basilisk, Bungaree and Lonsdale. He was Discharged in May 1945.

Alfred and Dorothy lived in Frankston, Victoria where Alfred was an Engineer before moving to Auckland, New Zealand in the early 1950s. Alfred was a Department Manager in Auckland until his death in 1969. Dorothy was in Melbourne in 1967 when she died.

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