GEOFFREY CLARKE

 Born

On 3 October 1923 at Penguin.

Connection to South Riana

Attended school in South Riana.

Parents

Charles Haddon CLARKE and Vida SCOTT who were married at Westbury in 1922.

Siblings

Thora 1926 – 2012

Avis 1928 – c2011

Enid 1939  

Kelvin Charles 1942 

Married

Laura May WRIGHT (1929 -2017) on 26 Feb 1949 at Ulverstone.

Family

Rosemary 1950

Annette 1951

Susanne 1956

David 1961

Died

On 2 November 1987 and is buried in the Central Coast Memorial Park.

School Records

Number 443 South Riana, enrolled on 7 October 1930 by father Charles, farmer from South Riana, living 1½ mile from school. In 1930 at age 7 he commenced school and left school in December 1935 to be ‘at home’.

Military Records

Service number 31667, giving his next of kin as his father Charles Clarke of Mountain View, South Riana, enlisting at Hobart with his father’s permission aged 18 ½ . He wanted to be a Trainee Radio Mechanic. He was described as 5’5 ½, with light brown hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion.

In March 1942 on his initial test for a W/T electrician he passed with only 7 errors in Morse Code, passed Handwriting and was sound at Mathematics. His aircrew test was ‘good’ and he was deemed suitable for enlisting as a Trainee W/T. operator. After slightly less than a year he was then re-mustered to the position of Telegraphist, doing training 2 March 1943 to 23 March 1943 when he was described as having a ‘VG character”. He attended Signal School at Point Cook, where he was described as a ‘fair operator, solid type’.  In Feb 1943 he was ‘improperly in possession of 2 rolls of toilet paper, the property of the public’ and was confined to barracks for 7 days.  He was reclassified as a LAC on 31 August 1943 and was discharged from the RAAF on 4 April 1944.

The first three photographs are courtesy of daughter Annette.