An obituary for Jim Swan

4.12.1924 – 17.9.2016

Jim Swan was believed to be Queanbeyan’s first RAAF pilot officer.

His family had lived in the Queanbeyan district from the 1830s and formed part of the initial wave of European settlement in the area. His great grandfather, William Swan, was a convict who arrived in Australia on the Mermaid in 1830. After getting his ticket of leave, he made his way to Gundaroo. There he met Jane Gatty, who owned and ran the Gundaroo pub. They quickly sold up and moved to Queanbeyan where they built a house on the eastern side of the Queanbeyan River, in the area that was known as ‘Irishtown’. The house came to be known as ‘Jane Swan Cottage’ at No.5 Atkinson Street.

Jim Swan grew up at 77 Campbell Street, next to Nurse Johnson’s Private Hospital at 79 Campbell St and just opposite the swimming pool. His father, James Brown Swan, had served in the AIF in the First World War and had been posted to 14th Light Horse Division and then to the Camel Corps. He fought in many of the desert areas in the Middle East including Beersheba, where the last official cavalry charge in military history occurred. 

Jim’s childhood playground was the Queanbeyan River, the velodrome and the stables behind their house. He attended Canberra High School and rode his bike on the dirt road to and from Canberra every day.

In 1943 at the age of 19 he enlisted in the RAAF and trained at Temora and Point Cook. He excelled at flying and within a year he was on a ship to London to join the war against fascism in Europe. He had a couple of narrow escapes including being knocked unconscious and almost being swept overboard into the North Atlantic. Arriving in London he experienced Hitler’s buzz bombs up close when one landed only 100 yards from where he was doing intelligence work at Kodak House and killed 40 people.

He flew various planes at a variety of locations in Scotland and Wales including Whitney and Wellington bombers, Martinettes, Avro Ansens, Wirraways and Airspeed Oxfords. In the Welsh town of Pembray at the Number One Air Gunnery School, he trained other pilots and towed stunt aircraft into the sky for trainee gunners to practise their skills on. It was dangerous work.

Returning home after the war, he married June Hodges in 1948  - a marriage that lasted until his passing. In the 1950s he moved his family to Canberra and in the 1970s became the Director of the Australian Trade Commission Service. He was also Treasurer and a life member of the Manuka Services Club.

He is survived by his wife June and four children – Robbie, Colin, Sue Cottier and Alan.