Peter J Austin | ParaData

Peter John Austin born at Shoreham-by-Sea in 1926, enlisted into the General Service Corps and transferred to the Royal Armoured Corps (RAC).

He then volunteered for airborne forces in August 1944.

Pte ‘Bunny’ Austin qualified as a military parachutist on Course 130 which ran at RAF Ringway from 21 August to 2 September 1944. The course report states: ‘Very good control - cheerful - confident.’ He was initially sent to the Holding Bn and later posted to 22nd Independent Parachute Company (Pathfinders).

L/Cpl Austin saw service in Ardennes, on the Rhine Crossing, the Far East and Palestine.

He appears to have transferred back to RAC in October 1946.

Later he returned to Malaysia and managed a rubber plantation.

Peter Austin died in 2010.

Date not known
22nd Independent Parachute Company (Lance Corporal)

Operations

Event

Ardennes

After the Allied landings in Normandy and subsequent advance through France and Belgium, the German Army had succeeded in stalling the Allied offensive along their line of defence at the German border - the ‘Siegfried Line’.

Event

Far East

The 5th Parachute Brigade was sent to the Far East in preparation for a potential invasion of Japan. However, only the advance elements of the Brigade had reached the Far East prior to the Japanese surrender.

Event

Palestine

Arab intransigence over the surge of Jewish immigration that followed the Holocaust in Europe led to the forming of extreme dissident Zionist groups such as IZL (Irgun Zwai Leumi) and the Stern Gang, all seeking to promote their aims through violence.

Event

Rhine Crossing (Operation Varsity)

Operation Varsity was the largest single airborne operation in history. On a single day, over 16,000 men were inserted by glider and parachute into western Germany. Around 8000 of those came from the British 6th Airborne Division, flying aboard 243 C47 aircraft and 440 gliders.

Decorations

General Service Medal

Photos_2

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Cpl Watson and L/Cpl Austin, Malaya, c1946.

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Two members of 22nd Ind Para Coy, c1945.

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Lance Corporal Peter J Austin

{ Bunny }

14 Feb 1926 - 01 Jan 2010

Service History