Tom Berry

Tom Berry
(1922 - )

Tom Berry was born at Canley Vale on 30 December 1922. His father had been wounded at Gallipoli, aged 19, and was a TPI, dying aged 57 in 1954. Tom’s mother had been educated at Woy Woy and Fort Street High. She was a very bright woman and died aged 86 at Manly in 1989.

Tom was schooled at Katoomba, then Sydney High after moving to Manly in 1937. He attended Sydney University by the grace of the Repatriation Department, graduating in Aeronautical Engineering in 1944 after being diverted from Civil Engineering in 1942. He joined the RAAF in November 1943 and was the first aeronautical engineer as such to be in the RAAF. He was awarded Pilot’s Wings in July 1944.

He spent 1944 - 1950 at the Aircraft Research and Development Unit based at Laverton, Victoria, as a performance engineer and spare pilot. This included many detachments on tropical trials at Darwin on various aircraft. He met Pauline there in 1949 when she was a hostess with TAA. In 1950 he was posted to Sydney to be the first CO of the Sydney University Squadron for a year.

1951-52 he was at Woomera as the first Engineer Officer of ARDU Trials Flight and the co-ordinator for the first flights of Jindivic of which he was the skipper of the control team. Seven flights started before success. He was then sent to UK for his sins! Tom married Pauline in 1952, and they had their first home at Woomera. In 1953 he was at Farnborough, UK, as the Australian at the 'Empire Test Pilot's School', which he survived. A son, Andrew, was born that year, 12,000 miles away.

Between 1954 and 58 Tom was Chief of the Flying Departmental Aircraft Research and Development Unit at Laverton. In 1954 he broke the sound barrier for the first time in NSW, Queensland and ACT in the then new Avon Sabre, and also set many point-to-point records.

In 1956 a second son - Young Tom - was born.

In 1958 he joined the formation of No2 Canberra Squadron at Amberley, Queensland and took the first (and spare) aircraft to Butterworth, Malaya. Twins, Richard and Anne, were born there in 1960. Nearly three years were spent at Butterworth.

Between 1961 and 1964 Tom worked at the Department of Air in Canberra, And in1964 resigned from RAAF and joined DCA as Performance Engineer in the NSW Region responsible for the performance and handling testing of new or modified light aircraft and some others. Tom and Pauline lived in the Forestville and Killarney Heights area since 1964.

In 1969 he became Senior Airworthiness Engineer for DCA at Sydney Airport and this included the introduction of the Boeing 747 into the Qantas fleet.

In 1987 he retired while still in that position having had many stints as Superintendent of Airworthiness in the regional headquarters. In all he flew 70-80 types of aircraft ranging from ultra-lights like the Thorpe Sky Scooter to Boeing B29, Wirraway to Avro Lincoln. De Havilland Tiger Moth, Drover, Vampire Venom, and the Australian Avon Sabre and Canberra, and many others He was also engaged in night and ground testing of many other aircraft.

To access an oral history interview with Tom Berry please use this link:'

https://heritage.engineersaustralia.org.au/wiki/Oral_Histories_Sydney