During the Second World War Bruce Shelton was an apprentice carpenter when a spat with his boss saw him impulsively enlist.
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“I was working in Sydney at the time and had a blew with my boss,” he said.
“I went straight down to Town Hall and joined up.
“Different ones tried to talk me out of it but they couldn’t.”
He joined the air force and initially worked in the stores depot in Toowoomba before being assigned to an air crew and sent to the islands.
He served for three years and 9 months, being discharged on August 13 1947.
He spent the last 15 months of his service in Japan as part of the occupational forces for which he received the 1939-45 Pacific Star.
Mr Shelton, 92, was recently recognised by Dungog RSL sub-branch for being a member of the RSL for 50 years.
Born in Dungog he moved to Sydney as a child with his family when his father passed away.
He returned to his beloved home town with his wife Valda in the 1950s with him and a friend starting their own building company.
