Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Leading Aircraftman Richard James Haynes (Service No:80828) enlisted in the RAAF on 3 January 1942 as an Aircraftman I, initially at No 4 Recruiting Centre Perth, then at 5 Initial Training School (ITS) - mustered as a Flight Rigger. ACI Haynes was described as 'Good clean type of boy. Good appearance. Nicely spoken. Keen and Alert' (NAA). Promoted to Leading Aircraftman on 31 January 1943, he was attached to No 35 Squadron before being posted to 26 Repair and Servicing Unit at Discharge on 18 January 1946.

The youngest of six children, Jim was born in Broome WA in 1924 to Dr Arthur Richard Haynes (b1888 in Gunnedah, NSW) and Irene Maria Frost (b1890 in Orange, NSW). Arthur (a Medical Practitioner) and Irene married in 1914 in Perth, WA. Arthur had completed his medical studies at The University of Sydney in 1910 and settled in Perth WA to take over his father's medical practice. Arthur served with the AAMC in WWI and by 1917 he and Irene had settled in Broome, WA where Arthur was District Medical Officer and on occasion served as Resident Magistrate. Irene was holidaying in Perth in 1928 when she died as a result of burns suffered in an accident. Their eldest daughter Sheila was sent to live with an Aunt and Uncle in Hong Kong (and was interned at Stanley Camp during WWII), and the five younger children were raised by their grandparents in Perth. Arthur remarried in 1945.

Jim - four years of age when his mother died - worked in Perth at a range of clerical jobs before enlisting in the RAAF in 1942. Following his Discharge, in 1950 in Perth WA, Jim married Gabrielle (Gay) Lucy Lawson (b1925 in Perth, WA). Jim and Gay settled in Perth where they raised their family and Jim worked as a Clerk, Wholesaler and Representative. Gay died in 2003 and Jim in 2016.