Arthur Drakeford

Who was Arthur Drakeford?

Arthur Samuel Drakeford was an Australian politician and was the minister responsible for the Royal Australian Air Force during World War II. He was also responsible for the establishment of the former domestic carrier Trans Australia Airlines and for the nationalisation of Qantas.

Drakeford was born in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy and his first job was cleaning railway engines at Benalla. In May 1902 he married Ellen Tyrie, but she died in 1906. In 1903 he became secretary of the Benalla branch of the Locomotive Engine Drivers' and Firemen's Association and joined the Australian Labor Party. In 1908, he moved to Melbourne as an engine driver. In 1911 he married Ellen Unger. He was vice-president of the LEDFA from 1914 to 1915, its president from 1916 to 1917 and general secretary from 1918. In 1920 he became the first federal secretary of the new Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen and from 1929 to 1948 was its national president. In 1927 he became senior vice-president of the Australasian Council of Trade Unions on its foundation in 1927. He became president of the Labor Party's Victorian central executive in 1929.