An extraordinarily fine product of the RAAF’s aircraft engineering training system!
Coincidentally he passed away on the 70th anniversary of his joining the RAAF.
19 May 44 - Jack Brabham joined the RAAF
John Arthur ('Jack') Brabham, the son of a green grocer, was born in the Sydney suburb of Hurstville on 2 April 1926. The young Brabham left school at the age of 15 to work in a garage. On this day -- just one month after turning 18 -- Brabham enlisted in the RAAF as an aircraft mechanic. His final posting was No. 5 Operational Training Unit, based at Williamtown and operating a number of aircraft including Beaufighters and Mosquitos. Brabham was then discharged from the RAAF on 2 April 1946, his 20th birthday, as a Leading Aircraftman (LAC).
In a stellar racing career, Sir Jack was the Formula One World Drivers Champion in 1959, 1960 and 1966 and was Formula One World Constructors Champion in 1966 and 1967. He has fourteen Grand Prix wins, thirteen Formula One pole positions, ten second and seven third place finishes. He is still the only driver in Formula One history to win the championship in a car of his own construction. He contested 126 Grand Prix events between 1955 and 1970, won the British Saloon Car Championship in 1965, won both the Australian and New Zealand Grand Prix three times, and was a four-time winner of the European Formula Two Championship.
Source: Office of Air Force History