Gerald Percy Wild MBE AM ED was an Australian politician who served as a Liberal Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1947 to 1965.
13 Facts About Gerald Wild
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Gerald Wild was a minister in the governments of Sir Ross McLarty and Sir David Brand, and later served as Agent-General for Western Australia from 1965 to 1971.
3.
Gerald Wild emigrated to South Australia in 1923 as one of the Barwell Boys, as part of an assisted migration scheme.
4.
Gerald Wild was initially employed as a farm apprentice at Langhorne's Creek and Loxton, and then went to work in the mines at Broken Hill, New South Wales.
5.
Gerald Wild returned to South Australia in 1930, working at an ice works in Port Adelaide and at a mill in Moonta.
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Gerald Wild saw service in the Middle East, Greece, and Crete, and was wounded in action in May 1941, gained the MBE in July 1941, and was mentioned in despatches in March 1942.
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Gerald Wild had been a member of the United Australia Party in South Australia prior to the war, and on returning to Western Australia joined the newly formed Liberal Party.
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Gerald Wild stood for the Liberal Party in the seat of Swan at the 1947 state election, and successfully transferred to Dale at the 1950 election, after Swan was abolished in a redistribution.
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Gerald Wild was reelected to parliament in 1965, but less than a month later resigned to take up the position of Agent-General for Western Australia.
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Gerald Wild was agent-general until March 1971, when he was succeeded by another Liberal MP, William Bovell.
11.
Gerald Wild was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1980, "for parliamentary service".
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Gerald Wild died in Booragoon, a suburb of Perth, in 1996, aged 89, and was buried at Karrakatta Cemetery.
13.
Gerald Wild had married Virginia Mary "Jean" Baxter in 1944.