COLLINS, Basil Patrick
| Service Number: | 25290 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 13 March 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Flight Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | RAAF Overseas HQ |
| Born: | Gympie, Queensland, Australia, 4 March 1921 |
| Home Town: | Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland |
| Schooling: | St Laurence's College, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Occupation: | Shop Assistant |
| Died: | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 26 September 2007, aged 86 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Balmoral Cemetery, Qld |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 13 Mar 1941: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 25290 | |
|---|---|---|
| 27 Oct 1943: | Embarked Royal Australian Air Force, Sergeant, 25290, RAAF Overseas HQ, RAAF Staff Washington emplaned Sydney for San Francisco | |
| 25 Jan 1946: | Embarked Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 25290, RAAF Overseas HQ, ex San Francisco to Sydney | |
| 17 Apr 1946: | Discharged Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 25290 |
Help us honour Basil Patrick Collins's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Basil was the third of five children of William Patrick Collins (b1881 in Gympie, QLD) and Ada Florence Guard (b1889 in Gympie, QLD). William (a Miner) and Ada married in 1908 in Gympie QLD where William worked as a Miner before relocating his family to Crow's Nest on the Darling Downs, QLD in 1911. William worked as a Ganger and Labourer in Murgon and Wondai before moving to Brisbane in 1930.
Basil completed the Junior Public Exam at St Laurence's College in 1936 and worked as a Shop Assistant at TC Beirnes in Fortitude Valley in Brisbane. In March 1941 Basil enlisted in the RAAF (Aircraftman I; Service No:25290). Basil served at a number of postings around Australia as a Leading Aircraftman (March 1942), Corporal (May 1942), Sergeant (August 1943) and Flight Sergeant (December 1944). He was posted to RAAF HQ in Washington and San Francisco (1943 - 1946) and was sattached to 3 Personnel Depot when he was Discharged in April 1946.
In 1945 at Long Beach in California USA, Basil married Jane (Danny) Daniel Wardman (b1923 in Rhode Island, USA). Following his Discharge, Basil and Danny lived in Brisbane, QLD where Basil worked as an Advertising Copywriter. In 1950 Basil was in California working as an Advertising Copywriter and making arrangements for Danny and their four month old son D'Arcy to join him. On Easter Sunday 1950 Danny had just telegraphed Basil advising him that she and D'Arcy would soon join him in California when she was struck by a car outside the Telegraph Office and killed.
Basil returned to Brisbane and was working as an Advertising Copywriter in 1955 when he married Constance May (b1921). Basil and Constance lived in Brisbane before relocating to Sydney NSW in the mid 1960s. Basil worked in Sydney as a Representative. Constance died in 2006 and Basil in 2007.
Biography contributed by Chris Buckley
Basil's wife Danny served in the US Naval Reserves (WAVES) as an Aviation Machinist's Mate Third Class (AMM3)and was awarded a citation for bravery and a decoration for pulling a pilot from a burning plane in 1942. Danny was buried with full American Military Honours (Find A Grave)
Click images to start slideshow.