St George Who's Who
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Distinguished and Famous people from St George
✈️ Len Waters
Len Waters, Australia's first Aboriginal fighter pilot, had strong family connections with St George. After serving in the Royal Australian Air Force during the Second World War, he married Gladys Saunders there in 1946. His hope of using his flying experience to establish a western Queensland air-taxi service was thwarted by licensing and financial barriers, and he returned to shearing and bush work. He and Gladys later raised their family in Brisbane, but he was buried at St George in 1993. The town's pilots memorial commemorates him alongside John Jackson, recalling achievement in the air and the unequal opportunities that followed military service.
🛩️ John Jackson
John Jackson worked a grazing property near St George and became proprietor of Western Queensland Motor Engineering Works in the town in 1933. Flying began as part of that practical regional life: he bought a light aircraft and competed in the 1936 Brisbane–Adelaide air race. During the Second World War he served in the Middle East before commanding No. 75 Squadron in the defence of Port Moresby. Shot down during a reconnaissance flight, he survived with help from two New Guineans who guided him through the jungle. He returned to his squadron but was killed in combat later that month, in April 1942. Port Moresby's Jacksons International Airport commemorates him.
