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War Memorial
Australia

Allan Graham KERR (1946-2023)

Allan Graham Kerr was born at Sydney, NSW, on 23 May 1946.

He completed his secondary education at North Sydney Boys High School.
At the time of his call up for National Service, Allan was working at the AMP Society, something
at that time that he considered as one of the best things to happen in his life.

Allan commenced his National Service as 2784536 at 1 RTB, Kapooka, on 13 July 1966. He was selected for officer training and on 29 July
commenced at OTU as a Cadet, a member of 5 Section, 2 Platoon, A Company. His ‘Father’ was Corporal Frank Shellabear. In his Senior Term,
the by now Officer Cadet Kerr, was the Section Commander of his section. He was not allocated a ‘Son’ (a member of the junior class he was to mentor).

On 22 December 1966, Allan Graduated with his class, OTU Graduate Number 276.  He decided to take a Short Service Commission, stay in the Army and become a pilot. Allan was allocated to the Artillery Corps and posted to 1 RTB, Kapooka as an Instructor, to await his flying training. Transferring to the
Australian Staff Corps (ASC) of the Australian Regular Army (ARA), Allan was allocated ARA Number 217228. Flying training commenced on 3 July 1967 at the Southern Command Basic Flying Training School at Pt Cook, a south-west suburb on Melbourne. He was on Course 66 with OTU Classmates
40 Damien Aird and Rick Everingham and four other students.

Allan and Rick became life-long friends,  remaining so after Rick’s flying accident ended his Army career. The next level of training commenced on
11 March 1968 with Advance Flying Training at RAAF Amberley, Course 14/68 (RW). Now a qualified helicopter pilot, on 26 July 1968 Allan was posted to 16 Aviation Regiment. From there he was posted to 162 Independent Recce Flight on 31 March 1969. Allan married Elaine Banks on 30 August, prior to Allan leaving for Vietnam.

From 17 September 1969 to 10 September 1970 Allan flew with 161 Independent Recce Flight in South Vietnam. While in Vietnam, on 1 July 1970 Allan transferred to the AAAvn Corps. In October 1970, on return to Australia, Allan was posted to 16 Aviation Squadron. At the end of his five-year Short Service Commission,  Allan resigned on 23 December 1971.

Allan and Elaine moved to the Northern Territory in January 1972, where he became one of the first helicopter pilots to muster cattle, in the Territory, on the Victoria River Downs (VRD) Station, then the largest property in Australia, if not the world. What an experience it was for the couple, living in the
outback with all its plus and minus values. In 1973 Allan received his endorsement on twin engine aircraft and started flying around the north. Late that year the couple moved to Brisbane for the birth of their first child, Natalie, who was born on 28 December 1973.

From January 1973 to mid-1974, Allan and Elaine owned and operated the Redcliffe Squash Centre, in Redcliffe, a northern Brisbane coastal suburb. They then returned to the NT and established their own company operating two helicopters and one fixed-wing aircraft, working in mustering and charter work,
based out of VRD again. Employing a second pilot, Allan’s aircraft operated all over the northern area, into Kununurra in WA and north-western Queensland, with the two helicopters and the fixed wing. He also endorsed a number of other pilots for mustering. The family moved to Darwin in 1978. Warwick was
born in Redcliffe in September 1978. At the time Allan was mustering in NT and found out he had a son via NT Air Medical - the 'newspaper of the NT’!

In 1979 Allan decided to stop flying and the family moved to Cairns, staying there for almost twenty years. They moved into a variety of businesses, including real estate development, ending up with seven shops in the lobbies of the major hotels. Their son, Warwick learned to sail in Cairns.

Of that time Elaine said: ‘Our son learned to sail, and we thought that seemed a good idea, so we bought an old yacht and went in the local races. That proved far too slow for Allan, so he bought a sleek, fast and very pretty yacht, called 'Just Magic' and we entered and won a variety of off-shore blue-water races. Returning home from a race to PNG we decided to sail around the world. So, we did, in 1998, for an 8-year circumnavigation of the world. We sold ‘Just Magic’ and bought a catamaran, and we went off to Asia for another 5 years. While in the Mediterranean Sea on their boat, Allan and Elaine caught up with Rick and Desley in Italy. After some years Allan decided he was fed up fixing engines etc., so we came ashore."

‘We were quite nicely settled here in Bargara (a coastal suburb of Bundaberg, Queensland), playing golf and travelling occasionally, when, as a result of a botched operation on his left leg, the last three years saw him in and out of various hospitals in Bundaberg, Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast. A resulting
tumour in his leg caused his death.’

On 1 March 2023, the same day as Rick was on his way to visit him at the Friendly Society Private Hospital in Bundaberg, Allan died. Rick and Desley attended Allan’s funeral. Allan was cremated at Bundaberg.

This biography featured in "The Scheyvillian" 2/23 newsletter of the Army's National Service Officer Training Unit 1965-73.