27 Facts About Tom Drake-Brockman

Tom Drake-Brockman was a member of the National Country Party.

Tom Drake-Brockman served as Minister for Air from 1969 to 1972.

Tom Drake-Brockman was born on 15 May 1919 in Toodyay, Western Australia.

Tom Drake-Brockman was the first of six children born to Rosa Ita and Robert James Hastie Drake-Brockman.

Tom Drake-Brockman's father was a member of a pioneering Western Australian family, while his mother was a schoolteacher and former novice nun originally from Kilkee, Ireland.

Tom Drake-Brockman was raised on his father's farming properties, including "Mill Farm" situated north of Toodyay, a smaller property at Calingiri, and "Yandee" in the locality of Nunile near Toodyay.

Tom Drake-Brockman began his education at St Aloysius Convent of Mercy in Toodyay and later attended Toodyay State School.

Tom Drake-Brockman enlisted in the Australian Army in 1938 after leaving school, joining the 10th Light Horse Regiment.

Tom Drake-Brockman transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force in February 1941 and qualified as a wireless operator and air gunner.

Tom Drake-Brockman subsequently undertook further training in England with the Royal Air Force as part of the Empire Air Training Scheme.

Tom Drake-Brockman was transferred in December 1943 to No 466 Squadron RAAF where he "flew numerous missions in Halifax bombers over Germany and France".

Tom Drake-Brockman was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1944 and was promoted to flight lieutenant in 1945.

In 1945, following his return from the war, Tom Drake-Brockman went into partnership with his parents and two brothers to acquire the Boodadong estate at Yerecoin, previously owned by Horace Berry.

Tom Drake-Brockman was active in the Farmers' Union of Western Australia, serving as president of its wool section from 1956 to 1958 and as a vice-president of the Australian Wool and Meat Producers' Federation.

Tom Drake-Brockman promoted "orderly marketing of wool through a national scheme that would ensure the livelihood of the small grower".

Tom Drake-Brockman was a founding member of the Yerecoin branch of the Country and Democratic League in 1954.

Tom Drake-Brockman first nominated for Country Party preselection at the 1958 Western Australian Legislative Council election, but was defeated for endorsement in Midland Province by Charles Simpson.

Tom Drake-Brockman was appointed to a casual vacancy as a Country Party senator on 12 August 1958.

Tom Drake-Brockman's appointment expired at the 1958 election, when he was elected to the Senate, with effect from 1 July 1959.

Tom Drake-Brockman was appointed Minister for Air in John Gorton's second ministry, as a result of Dudley Erwin's falling out of Gorton's favour.

Tom Drake-Brockman remained minister until the defeat of the William McMahon government at the 1972 election.

Tom Drake-Brockman was Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Minister for Administrative Services in Malcolm Fraser's caretaker government after the dismissal of the Whitlam government, but was not reappointed to Fraser's ministry after the 1975 election.

Tom Drake-Brockman did not stand for re-election at the 1977 election and his term came to an end on 30 June 1978.

In 1942, while in England, Tom Drake-Brockman married Edith "Mollie" Sykes, a private in the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service.

Tom Drake-Brockman remarried in the same year to Mary Frances McGinnity.

Tom Drake-Brockman was active in the RAAF Association, serving as a senior state vice-president and as chair of the committee overseeing the Aviation Heritage Museum.

Tom Drake-Brockman died at Royal Perth Hospital on 28 August 1992, aged 73.