John Lloyd Waddy, (10 December 1916 – 11 September 1987) was a senior officer and aviator in the
Royal Australian Air Force
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colours =
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(RAAF), and later served as a member of the
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...
and
Minister of the Crown. As a fighter pilot during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, he shot down 15 enemy aircraft during the
North African campaign, becoming one of Australia's top-scoring
aces and earning the
Distinguished Flying Cross. Waddy went on to command
No. 80 Squadron in the
South West Pacific
Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million as of ...
, where he was awarded the US
Air Medal
The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.
Criteria
The Air Medal was establish ...
. He was one of eight senior pilots who took part in the "
Morotai Mutiny
The "Morotai Mutiny" was an incident in April 1945 involving members of the Australian First Tactical Air Force based on the island of Morotai, in the Dutch East Indies. Eight senior pilots, including Australia's leading flying ace, Group Capt ...
" of April 1945.
Discharged from the Permanent Air Force at the end of the war, Waddy took a commission in the RAAF Reserve and led the organisation as a
group captain in the early 1950s. He was active in business and in veterans' groups, and was appointed an
Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1955. From 1962 to 1976, he was the
Member for Kirribilli in the
New South Wales Parliament
The Parliament of New South Wales is a bicameral legislature in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), consisting of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the New South Wales Legislative Council (upper house). Each ...
, representing the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
. He held cabinet posts including Minister for Child Welfare and Social Welfare (later Youth and Community Services),
Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services.
Some governments have separate ministers for mental health.
Coun ...
, and
Minister for Police and
Services
Service may refer to:
Activities
* Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty
* Civil service, the body of employees of a government
* Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a p ...
. Waddy retired from politics in 1976, and died in 1987 at the age of 70.
Family and early life
Born in Sydney on 10 December 1916, Waddy was the son of
first-class cricket
First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...
er Edgar Lloyd Waddy and his wife Lottchen, and great-grandson of General Sir Richard Waddy,
KCB.
[Draper, ''Who's Who in Australia 1980'', p. 840][Alexander, ''Who's Who in Australia 1950'', p. 724] His four siblings included a sister and three brothers.
Edgar Waddy established the real estate firm of E.L. Waddy & Son in
Rose Bay, which John joined as a clerk after completing his education at the
King's School, Parramatta
, motto_translation = "Bravely and Faithfully"
, streetaddress = 87–129 Pennant Hills Road
, city = North Parramatta, Sydney
, state = New South Wales
, country = Australia
, coordinat ...
.
[Newton, ''Australian Air Aces'', pp. 114–115] He married Vera Nellie May (Ve) Dengate on 21 July 1938. The couple had a son, Lloyd, and two daughters, Denise and Rosalind.
[Her name on a war plane says it all]
at
The Sydney Morning Herald
'. Retrieved 25 September 2009.
Waddy enlisted in the
Royal Australian Air Force
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colours =
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, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
(RAAF) in late 1940, learning to fly under the
Empire Air Training Scheme
The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), or Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) often referred to as simply "The Plan", was a massive, joint military aircrew training program created by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zea ...
(EATS) in
Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kno ...
. His two older brothers, Edgar and Richard, were also pilots. Edgar had taken a short-service commission with the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
(RAF) in the 1930s, and Richard trained in Canada with EATS during the war before active duty in Britain, where he was killed flying a single-engined
fighter in 1941.
Waddy's elder sister, Lett, was commissioned into the Women's Volunteer Naval Reserve, and his younger brother Rowen served as an officer with
Z Special Unit in the
South West Pacific
Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million as of ...
.
World War II
North Africa
![010233Tomahawk1941](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/010233Tomahawk1941.jpg)
Completing his training in June 1941,
Pilot Officer Waddy was posted to the
North African theatre with
No. 250 (Fighter) Squadron RAF, operating
P-40 Tomahawks and, later, Kittyhawks.
He was befriended and mentored by the RAAF's top-scoring
ace
An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...
,
Clive "Killer" Caldwell, who became godfather to Waddy's daughter.
[Alexander, "Cleaning the Augean stables"] Waddy's first operational
sortie was as Caldwell's
wingman
A wingman (or wingmate) is a pilot or UAV who supports another pilot in a potentially dangerous flying environment. ''Wingman'' was originally the plane flying beside and slightly behind the lead plane in an aircraft formation.
According to t ...
; he found the ensuing dogfight so fast and confusing that he had no idea what was happening and afterwards had to ask the more experienced pilot how things had gone. On 9 December, he registered his first victory—in a Tomahawk that had previously been Caldwell's personal mount—when he shared in the destruction of a
Messerschmitt Bf 110
The Messerschmitt Bf 110, often known unofficially as the Me 110,Because it was built before ''Bayerische Flugzeugwerke'' became Messerschmitt AG in July 1938, the Bf 110 was never officially given the designation Me 110. is a twin-engined (de ...
twin-engined fighter near
El Adem
Gamal Abdel Nasser Airbase () is a Libyan Air Force ( ar, القوات الجوية الليبية, translit=al-Quwwāt al-Ǧawwiyya al-Lībiyya, Berber: Adwas Alibyan Ujnna) base, located about 16 km south of Tobruk. It is believed to onc ...
.
By the end of April 1942, Waddy had scored four-and-a-half victories over enemy aircraft. Promoted
flying officer, he achieved four "kills" in a single sortie on 12 May 1942, destroying two
Junkers Ju 52 cargo planes and two escorting Bf 110s from a German air transport convoy operating between
Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...
and North Africa.
He was awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for this action,
gazetted
A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper.
In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...
on 2 October. The citation praised his "masterly airmanship as a fighter pilot" and his "great courage and devotion to duty". Shortly after claiming a victory over a
Messerschmitt Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the ''Luftwaffe's'' fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War ...
on 22 May, Waddy was posted to another RAF unit,
No. 260 Squadron, flying Kittyhawks.
He accounted for two enemy aircraft in June, before being assigned to
No. 4 Squadron,
South African Air Force
"Through hardships to the stars"
, colours =
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, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries =
, equipment ...
, with which he destroyed a Bf 109 in September. In October, Waddy began flying
Spitfire Vs in
No. 92 Squadron RAF. He claimed a further three victories with his latest unit before being posted back to Australia on 19 November 1942. His final tally of fifteen-and-a-half victories made him one of the most successful Allied fighter pilots in the Desert War, and second only to Caldwell among the RAAF contingent.
South West Pacific
![OG2309Waddy1945](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/OG2309Waddy1945.jpg)
In February 1943, Waddy took charge of the Spitfire Squadron of
No. 2 Operational Training Unit (No. 2 OTU), based at
Mildura
Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point and Merbein are included, the area h ...
, Victoria.
He was quoted in ''
The Canberra Times
''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times.
History
''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...
'' that April offering his message of congratulation to the RAF on the 25th anniversary of its foundation: "You should not have many more birthdays before '
Jerry' and the
Japs are shot clean out of the skies. Here's hoping." Fellow aces and Desert War veterans Clive Caldwell,
Wilf Arthur and
Bobby Gibbes
Robert Henry Maxwell Gibbes, (6 May 1916 – 11 April 2007) was an Australian flying ace, fighter ace of World War II, and the longest-serving wartime commanding officer of No. 3 Squadron RAAF. He was officially credited wi ...
were also
instructors at No. OTU before their combat postings in the South West Pacific; in December 1943, Caldwell and Waddy nearly collided when they crossed paths during an
aerobatics
Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aerial" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and glide ...
display at
No. 5 Service Flying Training School in
Uranquinty
Uranquinty is a small town approximately south of Wagga Wagga, in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The population of the town, often referred to as "Quinty", is 909.
Uranquinty was used as the railway village when the railw ...
, New South Wales. Waddy undertook a staff course the following year, and was promoted to
squadron leader
Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is als ...
. He was posted to
Noemfoor in the
Dutch East Indies in September 1944 to command
No. 80 Squadron; his unit was part of
No. 78 (Fighter) Wing of the
Australian First Tactical Air Force
The Australian First Tactical Air Force (No. 1 TAF) was formed on 25 October 1944 by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Its purpose was to provide a mobile force of fighter and ground attack aircraft that could support Allied army and n ...
(No. 1 TAF), led by Air Commodore
Harry Cobby
Air Commodore Arthur Henry Cobby, (26 August 1894 – 11 November 1955) was an Australian military aviator. He was the leading fighter ace of the Australian Flying Corps during World War I, with 29 victories, despite seeing active servic ...
.
Operating Kittyhawks, No. 80 Squadron undertook dive bombing and
strafing
Strafing is the military practice of attacking ground targets from low-flying aircraft using aircraft-mounted automatic weapons.
Less commonly, the term is used by extension to describe high-speed firing runs by any land or naval craft such ...
missions against Japanese targets, but saw little air combat.
[RAAF Historical Section, ''Units of the RAAF'', pp. 76–77]
In April 1945, Waddy joined Caldwell, Arthur, Gibbes and four other senior pilots of No. 1 TAF in an action that became known as the "
Morotai Mutiny
The "Morotai Mutiny" was an incident in April 1945 involving members of the Australian First Tactical Air Force based on the island of Morotai, in the Dutch East Indies. Eight senior pilots, including Australia's leading flying ace, Group Capt ...
". The eight attempted to resign their commissions in protest at the relegation of the RAAF's fighter squadrons to apparently worthless ground attack missions.
[Stephens, ''The Royal Australian Air Force'', pp. 123–124][Odgers, ]
Air War Against Japan
', pp. 444–450 Earlier that month, Waddy had asked his intelligence officer to produce a "profit and loss statement" for No. 80 Squadron, covering the period 1 October 1944 to 31 March 1945, to "bring out the fact that the expenditure by the squadron was not compensated for by the achievements of the Squadron".
In that time, Waddy had lost eleven pilots with the unit, including seven to enemy action. Arthur had produced a similar "balance sheet" for No. 81 Wing. Both had become frustrated with the lack of attention paid by superior officers to their concerns regarding the usefulness of No. 1 TAF operations.
At the subsequent inquiry into events on Morotai, Justice
John Vincent Barry cleared the pilots of fault over the incident, finding their motives in tendering their resignations to be sincere.
Waddy continued to lead No. 80 Squadron until handing over command on 1 June 1945.
For his service in the Pacific, he was
mentioned in despatches and awarded the US
Air Medal
The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.
Criteria
The Air Medal was establish ...
,
the former promulgated on 25 June 1946 and the latter on 1 July 1948.
Post-war career
RAAF reservist and businessman
![11868207 0001Waddy1956](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/11868207_0001Waddy1956.jpg)
With the end of the Pacific War, Waddy was discharged from the Permanent Air Force (PAF) as an acting
wing commander
Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...
in September 1945.
He joined the Rose Bay branch of the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
, and accepted a commission in the RAAF Reserve, also known as the Citizen Air Force (CAF).
He also worked as a sales executive in the import-export firm of Falkiner, Caldwell Pty Ltd, run by Clive Caldwell and businessman George Falkiner.
Promoted
group captain, Waddy led the CAF from 1950 through 1954, becoming its first member to take a seat on the
Air Board, the RAAF's controlling body that consisted of its most senior officers and which was chaired by the
Chief of the Air Staff.
During his tenure, CAF squadrons continued to operate aircraft and were expected to act as home defence in the absence of PAF units serving overseas, roles they would lose by the end of the 1950s.
Retiring from the CAF in 1954, Waddy established his own real estate and travel agency, John L. Waddy Pty Ltd, and served as
Honorary Aide-de-camp to
the Queen
In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to:
* Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death
The Queen may also refer to:
* Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...
until 1957.
He was appointed an
Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1955
New Year Honours
The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...
. The Australian delegate to the
World Veterans Federation
The World Veterans Federation (WVF) is the world's largest international veteran organisation. The federation consists of 172 veterans organizations from 121 countries representing some 60 million veterans worldwide.
It is a humanitarian organis ...
from 1956 to 1963, he was President of the New South Wales Division of the
Australian Flying Corps
The Australian Flying Corps (AFC) was the branch of the Australian Army responsible for operating aircraft during World War I, and the forerunner of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The AFC was established in 1912, though it was not until ...
and Royal Australian Air Force Association throughout the 1950s, becoming an honorary life member in 1958.
In October 1956, he joined former Chiefs of the Air Staff Air Marshals
Sir Richard Williams and
Sir George Jones in calling for greater investment in the local aircraft industry, warning that unless prompt action was taken the situation would deteriorate to the same level as before World War II.
State parliamentarian
![WaddyJL-43P-1971](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/WaddyJL-43P-1971.jpg)
After an unsuccessful bid to become
Lord Mayor of Sydney
The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of Sydney is the head of the Council of the City of Sydney, which is the local government area covering the central business district of Sydney in the State of New South Wales, Australia. The Lord Mayor has be ...
that saw him defeated by the
Labor Party's
Pat Hills
Patrick Darcy Hills (31 December 1917 – 22 April 1992) was a New South Wales politician. He served in various high offices across the state most notably the Deputy Premier of New South Wales, Leader of the Opposition and as the Lord Mayor ...
,
Waddy was elected to the
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...
as the Liberal member for the newly created seat of
Kirribilli
Kirribilli is a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. One of the city's most established and affluent neighbourhoods, it is located three kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area administere ...
, on Sydney's
North Shore, in March 1962. He sold his interest in John L. Waddy Pty Ltd the same year.
Appointed
Parliamentary Secretary to the
Minister for Education in 1967, he was an Assistant Minister from February 1969 until March 1971, when he became a
Minister of the Crown in charge of Child Welfare and Social Welfare in
Premier Robert Askin
Sir Robert William Askin, GCMG (4 April 1907 – 9 September 1981), was an Australian politician and the 32nd Premier of New South Wales from 1965 to 1975, the first representing the Liberal Party. He was born in 1907 as Robin William Askin, but ...
's cabinet, succeeding
Frederick Hewitt
Frederick Maclean ("Mac") Hewitt (11 July 1908 – 22 November 1976) was an Australian company director and politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council for the 21 years from 1955 to 1976 representing the Liberal Party ...
.
His
portfolio
Portfolio may refer to:
Objects
* Portfolio (briefcase), a type of briefcase
Collections
* Portfolio (finance), a collection of assets held by an institution or a private individual
* Artist's portfolio, a sample of an artist's work or a c ...
included responsibility for
Aboriginal affairs; in 1972 he founded the Aboriginal Lands Trust, staffed by a council of nine elected
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
, to assume
freehold title
In English law, a fee simple or fee simple absolute is an estate in land, a form of freehold ownership. A "fee" is a vested, inheritable, present possessory interest in land. A "fee simple" is real property held without limit of time (i.e., per ...
of former government reserves in New South Wales as a precursor to granting
land rights
Land law is the form of law that deals with the rights to use, alienate, or exclude others from land. In many jurisdictions, these kinds of property are referred to as real estate or real property, as distinct from personal property. Land use a ...
.
Waddy's position was changed to Minister for Youth and Community Services in January 1973. In September he piloted a bill to reorganise the Ministries of Child Welfare and Social Welfare as the Department of Youth and Community Services; the move was designed to "revitalise" and re-focus welfare services, and to remove "overtones of charity and paternalism" inherent in the earlier titles. Waddy was succeeded by
Dick Healey
Richard Owen Healey (7 December 192310 December 2000) was a New South Wales politician, ABC sports broadcaster, and minister of the crown in the cabinets of Sir Robert Askin, Tom Lewis and Sir Eric Willis. From 1973 to 1975 he was Minister ...
on 3 December 1973, and took over as
Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services.
Some governments have separate ministers for mental health.
Coun ...
from
Harry Jago
Arnold Henry Jago (13 March 1913 – 17 September 1997), was a Liberal member of the New South Wales parliament representing the seat Gordon and a Minister of the Crown.
Early life
Jago was born in the Sydney suburb of Chatswood and educated a ...
.
On 3 January 1975, he was appointed
Minister for Police and
Minister for Services under new Premier
Tom Lewis, serving until 23 January the following year.
In this portfolio he sponsored an amendment to the Parliamentary Electorates and Elections Bill, including provisions to close polling booths at 6 pm rather than 8 pm to expedite the reporting of results, and to change the term "Christian name" to "Given name" on candidate nominations to reflect changing community attitudes. He also put through a bill to hold a referendum on whether to make daylight saving a permanent fixture in New South Wales, following trials that had commenced in 1971.
Described by one of his parliamentary colleagues as a "mixture of ''bon vivant'' and conservatism", Waddy was also known for an occasionally quick temper; his staff were said to "start making motions as though they were bombing and strafing the enemy" when their boss got "wound up".
Charles Cutler, New South Wales Deputy Premier from 1965 to 1975, reflecting on the bond between ex-servicemen in the political arena, recalled Waddy as "a great bloke, but inclined to be a bit pompous when speaking in the house ...", and
John Booth found him to have an "old-fashioned sense of service to the community".
Waddy was named a
Freeman of the City of London
The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...
in 1972, and
Australian Father of the Year in 1973.
Having held his state seat in Kirribilli for fourteen years and four re-election campaigns—in 1965, 1968, 1971 and 1973—he was denied preselection by the Liberal Party for the
1976 contest. He resigned from the party and stood as an Independent, but was defeated by future Liberal leader
Bruce McDonald.
His parliamentary career was over but, in the words of a later Deputy Premier,
Ian Armstrong, Waddy had "refused to retreat to political obscurity", and "went out fighting".
He was permitted to continue to use the title "Honourable" on his retirement. After eleven years in power in New South Wales, the sitting Liberal government itself lost office in the 1976 poll, to
Neville Wran
Neville Kenneth Wran, (11 October 1926 – 20 April 2014) was an Australian politician who was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 to 1986. He was the national president of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1980 to 1986 and chairman ...
's Labor Party.
Later life
![OG1851Waddy1944](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/OG1851Waddy1944.jpg)
Waddy maintained his interest in aviation during and after his political career. He flew a
Beechcraft King Air twin-engined
turboprop
A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller.
A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. ...
in the 1969 England-to-Australia Air Race, taking second prize in the New South Wales Government division. As Minister for Child Welfare and Social Welfare with responsibility for Aboriginal affairs in 1971, he piloted his own light plane on three of the longest legs of his tour of government reserves in rural New South Wales. Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Australian and British Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators in 1977–78, he was an honorary member of the American Fighter Aces Association,
and became director of a private airline, Aquatic Airways, in 1979. He also raised cattle on his farm near
Goulburn
Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters pate ...
, New South Wales.
Following several bouts of serious illness in his later years, John Waddy died on 11 September 1987,
at the age of seventy. He was survived by his wife and three children, and given a funeral at
St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney
St Andrew's Cathedral (also known as St Andrew's Anglican Cathedral) is a cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney in the Anglican Church of Australia. The cathedral is the seat of the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney and Metropolitan o ...
.
[John Waddy, Fighter Pilot and Minister](_blank)
a
GoogleNews
Retrieved 25 September 2009. His pallbearers included Clive Caldwell and Tom Lewis. Waddy's son Lloyd served in the RAAF Reserve from 1979 to 1995, and was appointed
Queen's Counsel
In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...
in 1988 and later a Justice of the
Family Court of Australia. He was also a co-founder and National Convenor of
Australians for Constitutional Monarchy
Australians for Constitutional Monarchy (ACM) is a group that aims to preserve Australia's current constitutional monarchy, with Charles III as King of Australia. The group states that it is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organisation whose rol ...
.
Submission on the Plebiscite for an Australian Republic Bill
a
Australians for Constitutional Monarchy
Retrieved 29 September 2009. Waddy's widow Ve died in 2006, at the age of ninety-six.
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Waddy, John
1916 births
1987 deaths
Australian aviators
Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Australian recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)
Australian World War II flying aces
Foreign recipients of the Air Medal
Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Royal Australian Air Force officers
20th-century Australian politicians