Colin was far too modest to write about himself, so this is penned by his best friend and marriage partner of 30 years.
COLIN HENDRY was born in Parkes, NSW in 1920, to John Joseph Hendry and Amy Ellinor Cooper. Four years after he was born, Col's father was killed in an accident with a horse drawn waggon and Amy had the task of raising three children under the age of six years.
She was ably assisted by the Cooper family, and Col often related that he was better off than most young boys because his Cooper uncles.... Alan, Bill and Ralph, were wonderful role models for him and for Lloyd and Coralie.
Col left school at the age of 14, and worked first of all in a chemist shop and then a photographic studio. He had been helping out on the Cooper farm from a young boy, driving a team of eight horses. His mother decided to employ a driver to manage the team of horses and the waggon after Jack's death, and it was Colin, aged four, who had to show the new driver where the horses worked in the team, and in which harness.
Then came the war, and young Colin enlisted with the AMF and became Corporal as an instructor. He was transferred to the AIF in August, 1942, thereby becoming available for overseas service, and in June 1943 he transferred to the RAAF as a trainee air crew member.
After joining the RAAF, Colin quickly qualified as a navigator and was sent to England, where he was attached to 571 Squadron. Flying Officer Hendry and Flight Lieutenant Vanbergen were part of a light night striking force flying Mosquitoes and flew 42 missions, half of which were to Berlin.
Indeed, they were part of one of the really big events of WW2, the 1000 bomber raid on Berlin. Colin recalled "Our planes were the the now famous Mosquito aircraft which had started their career as 'Freeman's Folly' and ended the war as 'The Wooden Wonder.' They were made of plywood and balsa and were just like a box of matches when they crashed. We carried no guns at all, just one large bomb of 4,000 pounds....about 1800kg."
Colin played down the danger. "We were hit by anti-aircraft fire a few times, and had an engine catch fire at one time, but otherwise it was an incident free 17 months tour of duty". He served at bases in England at Brighton, Hereford, Padgate, Halfpenny Green, Warboys, Wyton and Oakington. He finished his service with the D.F.C.
He married after the war, settled in Parkes and had four children (John, Glenis, Colin and Patrick) with his first wife, Val Trekardo. In 1978 he married again, to Juliette Clark, whom he had met through a mutual hobby of breeding and showing dairy goats. Julie had written to him about purchasing one of his stud animals, and a friendship by correspondence had commenced. They wrote to each other three times per week for six years before they eventually met. She never did get the goat!
Colin and Julie moved to Rosedurnate Aged Care Facility in Parkes in 2005 after Col suffered a stroke and needed to receive nursing home care. He became a born-again Christian in January 2007 and went to be with the Lord on 26th June, 2007.
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