Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Flying Officer Paul Joseph Douglas Hardy (Service No:430557) initially served in the Militia as a Sergeant/Training Instructor (Service No:189077) from 26 November 1929 to 5 November 1931. In January 1943 he enlisted briefly in the Army as a Private (Service No:VX122889) with Australian Army Training Depot AASC before enlisting in the RAAF on 18 February 1943 as an Aircraftman 1. He progressed through the ranks and in May 1944 was Pilot Officer and on 7 November 1944 was promoted to Flying Officer. He was attached to Overseas HQ Washington and served in the UK (13 August 1944 to 5 December 1945). Flying Officer Hardy was attached to 9 Air Crew Holding Unit when he was Discharged on 15 February 1946.

Born in 1911 in Perth WA, Paul was the eldest of five children of Austin Hardy (b1878 in Middlesex, London) and Hilda Mary Douglas (b1884 in Sydney, NSW). Austin had immigrated with his parents and siblings in 1893, arriving in Fremantle WA on board the Helena Mind. Austin (a Clerk) and Hilda married in Perth in 1908 and lived in Perth and Wagin WA where Austin worked as a Clerk and Accountant, before moving to Melbourne in the mid 1920s. Austin worked as an Accountant.

Paul worked as a Grocer and Driver in Melbourne before his service in WWII and in 1933 married Hazel Bridget Carroll (b1909 in Melbourne, Victoria). Following WWII, Paul was a Salesman in Melbourne and remarried after Hazel's death in 1958 - Paul's second wife was Yolanda Melide Meloni (b1910 in Havre, France) - Yolanda was a Dressmaker and Designer in Melbourne. Paul and Yolanda married in 1961 and settled in Melbourne where Paul was a Manufacturer. Yolanda died in 1987 and Paul in 1988.