‘Everybody looked up to him’ — family’s heartfelt tribute to Albany World War II veteran Allan Hawkins

One of Albany’s last World War II veterans, Allan Hawkins, will be remembered today as a gentleman and a family man as he is laid to rest by five generations. The 96-year-old — who served as a flight mechanic in an active bombing squadron in the Pacific during WWII — died peacefully at home on July 7. Mr Hawkins’ son Colin paid tribute to his dad. “He was an easy-going, thorough gentleman who didn’t believe in arguing,” he said. “He never had a rough word for anybody. He was born among equals, grew up among equals, died among equals but nobody on this planet has ever been more equal than him. “There was nobody on this planet better than Dad.” Born in Victoria Park in 1925 and raised in the red dirt of the Goldfields, Mr Hawkins joined the Royal Australian Air Force at the age of 18 as WWII was in full swing in 1943. He was posted to Milne Bay in Papua New Guinea, spending 14 months stationed overseas servicing British 14-cylinder twin-engined torpedo bombers known as Bristol Beauforts. “When we did the overhauls, a flight mechanic and an armourer had to go up on the test flights,” Mr Hawkins told the Advertiser in 2019. “Some of the pilots would do their best to turn the planes inside out and cut the motors. “You were really worried because you had no parachute or anything — the pilot was the only one with one.” Mr Hawkins was posted home on Victory in Europe (VE) Day in 1945. Once on home soil, he ventured back to the Goldfields where he met the love of his life, Truda. “My parents lived in Norseman at that time. I got back to Kalgoorlie and I went out that night and I saw a couple of young girls and one had these sparkling eyes,” he said in 2019. “I went to a dance that Saturday night and saw her and we were married 12 months later.” By 1956, the couple had settled in Albany and they went on to have four sons, 14 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren. They welcomed their first great-great-grandchild, Isabelle, in June. For more than four decades, Mrs Hawkins waited on the same corner of York Street to wave on her beloved husband in the Anzac Day Parade. In May, the pair celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary. “It was almost love at first sight and they have never lost sight of each other,” Colin said. “He was looking at Mum and he just passed away just like that, right in front of her eyes — no pain. “He just pulled his covers up, put his head down and went. It was very peaceful, the best way to go. “She just loved everything about him. Nothing was too much for him. “He helped a lot of people, he really did, he would do anything for anyone.” At 26 years old, Mr Hawkins was the president of Esperance RSL sub-branch, a position he held for two years. He operated Allan’s Sheet Metal and Radiator Service in Albany for decades, was a valued member of the Apex, Rotary and Probus clubs and a regular at Emu Point Sporting Club well into his 90s. On his final Anzac Day this year, Mr Hawkins rode along York Street next to his son Bill, a Vietnam War veteran, in a convoy of vintage army jeeps during Albany’s troop march. Colin said his father’s legacy was his family — a close-knit brood that never argue, just like his dad. They got together every Friday night for dinner at Allan and Truda’s house. “His family is his legacy. He got to see five generations,” he said. “Everybody looked up to Dad. Everybody loved him.”

‘Everybody looked up to him’ — family’s heartfelt tribute to Albany World War II veteran Allan Hawkins

Subscribe today.

Digital

Everyday Digital

Digital & Print

Weekend Papers + Everyday Digital