19 July 1931 to 8 June
2023.
Aged 92 years.
Jim Treadwell entered the RAAF on 1 October 1951 as a trainee Signaller. He graduated from training in December 1952, “Proficient With Special Distinction”. He then flew as an anti-submarine Neptune crew-member. In April 1955, Jim was the first post-WW2 aircrew member to be selected for Pilot training.
Winning the Goble Trophy, he graduated from No. 21 Pilots’ Course “Proficient With Special Distinction” in March 1956. Jim first served as a Fighter Pilot with No.75 SQN and in September 1958 was posted to No.3 Squadron. He played an unexpectedly vital role in Operation Sabre Ferry to RAAF Butterworth, Malaya.
He flew for the next six months with 3SQN - including their handful of “operational” missions in response to "The Malayan Emergency".
Jim returned to Australia for further navigational training and by April 1963 he was back in Malaysia as the Navigation Officer for No.78 Wing (which included 3SQN). He remained there during the “Indonesian Confrontation”. Jim was then posted briefly to 3 Squadron again, as a squadron pilot, before transferring to the newly-formed No.79 Squadron Ubon, on the Thai-Vietnamese border, Aug/Nov 1964.
Jim continued rising through the ranks of the RAAF until resigning from the service in December 1976.
- But he returned for another short stint in 1981. [In typical fashion, Jim has published a complete online illustrated description of his service career.]
In more recent decades he has been a prominent figure in the RAAF Association and the Fighterworld museum at Williamtown.
Jim’s funeral was held at Mayfield West (Newcastle) on Friday the 16th of June 2023.
Summary by James Oglethorpe.