Editing Jack Brabham (section)

==Early life==
John Arthur 'Jack' Brabham was born on 2 April 1926 in [[Hurstville, New South Wales]], then a commuter town outside Sydney. Brabham was involved with cars and mechanics from an early age. At the age of 12, he learned to drive the family car and the trucks of his father's grocery business. Brabham attended technical college, studying metalwork, carpentry, and technical drawing.<ref>Brabham, Nye (2004) pp.20–21</ref>

Brabham's early career continued the engineering theme. At the age of 15 he left school to work, combining a job at a local garage with an evening course in mechanical engineering. Brabham soon branched out into his own business selling motorbikes, which he bought and repaired for sale, using his parents' back veranda as his workshop.<ref>Brabham, Nye (2004) pp.21–22</ref>

One month after his 18th birthday on 19 May 1944 Brabham enlisted into the [[Royal Australian Air Force]] (RAAF). Although he was keen on becoming a pilot, there was already a surplus of trained aircrew and the Air Force instead put his mechanical skills to use as a flight mechanic, of which there was a wartime shortage. He was based at [[RAAF Base Williamtown|RAAF Station Williamtown]], where he maintained [[Bristol Beaufighter]]s at [[No. 5 Operational Training Unit RAAF|No. 5 Operational Training Unit]]. On his 20th birthday, 2 April 1946, Brabham was discharged from the RAAF with the rank of [[leading aircraftman]]. He then started a small service, repair, and machining business in a workshop built by his uncle on a plot of land behind his grandfather's house.<ref name="Brabham, Nye 2004 p.26">Brabham, Nye (2004) p.26</ref>