Anzac Day: WWII veteran John Atkinson, 98, dies on his way to dawn service
A World War II veteran has been killed while on his way to an Anzac Day morning service.
John Atkinson, 98, was traveling to the coast of Port Broughton in South Australia on Thursday morning when he fell from his mobility scooter. Yorke Peninsula Country Times reported.
He was helped to his feet but reportedly fell again.
An ambulance was called, but he died at the scene.
John Atkinson (centre), 98, was traveling to the coast of Port Broughton in South Australia on Thursday morning when he fell from his mobility scooter and died
Mr Atkinson was on the front page of the local newspaper this week.
“He was very much looking forward to taking part in the morning service and later leading the local march from the RSL, as he has done many times before,” said his son Russell.
“He was so independent and resilient.”
Mr Atkinson joined the RAAF in 1943, as soon as he turned 18, to help the war effort.
He served as a transport driver in the Pacific.
“I wanted to be a rear gunner – I was the right size – but I might as well not do that because I wouldn’t be here today,” he told the Yorke Peninsula Country Times earlier this week.
Mr Atkinson joined the RAAF in 1943 as soon as he turned 18 to help the war effort
“They flushed them (dead gunners) out of the plane.”
His own father Arthur Edwin Atkinson served at Gallipoli and on the Western Front during the First World War, and two of his uncles also served.
His brother Fred survived three times while parachuting as an Army commando.
Atkinson’s son, Russell, has continued the family’s military tradition, serving in the Army in Afghanistan.
Port Broughton RSL chairman Sandra Owen said Mr Atkinson was a “cherished” member of the community who would be missed.
“He always put the rum in our coffee during the gunfire breakfast and we always had to watch him to make sure the drink wasn’t too strong,” she told the Advertiser.
“I bumped into him a few weeks ago… and he said, ‘I’m not doing too well, but I’ll be there on Anzac Day putting the rum in the coffee.’
Former Port Broughton RSL president George Blair-Nicholas said: ‘Out of 10 he was probably around 15.’
“He had a heart bigger than him.”
The Returned and Service League of Australia sent its condolences to Atkinson’s family, saying it was “very sad news”.