Education and Early Career
Wilfred Arthur was the son of a stock inspector from Goondiwindi, Queensland, a veteran of World War I who had served overseas for the duration of the conflict. Born in Sydney on 7 December 1919, Wilf grew up around his father's home town near the New South Wales border. The boy's initial education was by correspondence, but he later attended school at Yelarbon, Queensland, commuting on horseback. He then spent four-and-a-half years at The Scots College in Warwick, where he matriculated.
At the age of 19 and still at The Scots College, Arthur applied to join the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He enlisted on 4 September 1939, the day after Australia's entry into World War II. Training at RAAF Station Point Cook, Victoria, and RAAF Station Richmond, New South Wales, he was commissioned a pilot officer on 30 March 1940, despite being prone to airsickness early on. He served initially with No. 22 (City of Sydney) Squadron at Richmond, operating Hawker Demons and Avro Ansons.
Read more about this topic: Wilfred Arthur
Famous quotes containing the words education and, education, early and/or career:
“... many of the things which we deplore, the prevalence of tuberculosis, the mounting record of crime in certain sections of the country, are not due just to lack of education and to physical differences, but are due in great part to the basic fact of segregation which we have set up in this country and which warps and twists the lives not only of our Negro population, but sometimes of foreign born or even of religious groups.”
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962)
“Strange as it may seem, no amount of learning can cure stupidity, and formal education positively fortifies it.”
—Stephen Vizinczey (b. 1933)
“I do not know that I meet, in any of my Walks, Objects which move both my Spleen and Laughter so effectually, as those Young Fellows ... who rise early for no other Purpose but to publish their Laziness.”
—Richard Steele (1672–1729)
“The 19-year-old Diana ... decided to make her career that of wife. Today that can be a very, very iffy line of work.... And what sometimes happens to the women who pursue it is the best argument imaginable for teaching girls that they should always be able to take care of themselves.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)