Mothers' and Widows' badge : Mrs G Waite

Circular silver coloured Mothers' and Widows' badge. The obverse shows a raised image of a woman and part of a laurel wreath with the words 'FOR AUSTRALIA' in raised letters. The reverse has a hinged securing pin and raised lettering which reads 'ISSUED BY THE C'WLTH GOVT A F.' and 'G & E RODD 1944'. The serial number '9278' is impressed between the two inscriptions. A flat rectangular bar with a single brass seven pointed star in the centre is suspended from two rings at the bottom of the badge.

Issued to Mrs Gwendoline Waite, the widow of 406817 Flying Officer Arthur Geoffrey Waite who served in 100 Squadron, RAAF during the Second World War. Waite was born in Cheltenham, England, in 1910. He initially worked as a clerk but later joined the police force. Shortly after his marriage he and his wife moved to Australia arriving in Fremantle, Western Australia, on 18 September, 1934. Waite enlisted in the RAAF on 26 April, 1941. After training in Western Australia and Victoria he was posted to New Guinea with 100 Squadron. He contracted malaria there and returned home for a period of leave from 26 December 1944 to 15 January 1945. On 13 March 1945 Waite and his crew were carrying out air operations in the vicinity of Milak, New Guinea. Their plane crashed over their target area killing the entire crew. Waite is buried in the Lae War Cemetery.