Albert Bailey was born on 17 October 1908 in South London. The family lived in East Street in Camberwell, near Old Kent Road. By 1911, Albert had four brothers and four sisters; his father George was a motor cab driver. The First World War and its aftermath hit the family hard, so that by the 1920s they were in the grip of poverty. His mother Rose, now on her own, struggled to provide for the large family. Even though he had been learning to be a fitter, the Dreadnought Scheme gave Albert the opportunity he needed.
SS Demosthenes left London on 11 September and arrived in Sydney 28 October 1924, after a very rough voyage. 16-year-old Albert was one of the 60 Dreadnought Boys on board. The group was met on arrival and told of their respective training places. Albert was to go to Scheyville Training Farm.
On completing his farm training at Scheyville in early 1925, Albert Bailey was sent to ‘Malongulli’, a farm on Limestone Creek, between Lyndhurst and Woodstock, in Central West NSW. It was a successful placement and he was able to put his skills to good use there.
He stayed there until he was 21, and in 1929 he returned to London to see his family. However, when the weather became too cold, he decided it was time to return to Australia. He travelled to Australia via Canada. At the time, large numbers of impoverished men were criss-crossing the country looking for work, many getting on to freight trains any way they could, to ride-the-rails.
(Edmonton Journal Photo)
On board ship he met a man who had a travelling Picture Show, and decided to travel with him around NSW. During their travels in the state’s north, they came to Emmaville, where a local publican hired the Picture Show. When the Show moved on, Albert stayed at Emmaville and was able to get work in tin mining and road construction. In 1934, Albert married Elizabeth Jane Munday, the grand-daughter of the publican.
Around 1938, they moved to Cracow in Queensland, about 500 km north west of Brisbane. He was into mining again, but this time it was gold. It also saw the start of their family.
World War II began in 1939, and when Japanese bombing raids on Darwin and other parts of Australia started in February 1942 and persisted into 1943, Albert Bailey responded by moving with his family to Guildford in south-western Sydney, and enlisting in the Royal Australian Air Force. When the war ended, he stayed with the RAAF until his discharge in 1961.
He was posted to No.2 Aircraft Depot at Richmond Air Base west of Sydney. The Base had sections involved in - armament, erection, radar, airframe repair or modification, metal work, engine repair, wheel /tyre repair, instrument, parachute, and electrical repair. Motor transport repair was also done there. During the war years, crashed aircraft were salvaged, some repaired to fly again, some to provide spare parts.
The aircraft were mainly those of the Transport Wings based at Richmond. After the war these were C47 Dakotas and, from 1958, C130 Hercules became the focus.
Albert Bailey made Sergeant during his service at Richmond Air Base, and his trade skills were put to good use in his years in the RAAF. He remained at Guildford and passed away on 26 June 1986, aged 77 years. His wife Elizabeth survived him by another 26 years.
Albert Bailey, although one of the quiet ones, had fulfilled the hopes of the Dreadnought Scheme.
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