SPENDELOVE, Ralph Norman
| Service Number: | 2681 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 23 June 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 4th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Toowong, Queensland, Australia, 4 August 1890 |
| Home Town: | Ashfield, Ashfield, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Accountant |
| Died: | Illness, Ashfield, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 25 January 1921, aged 30 years |
| Cemetery: |
Rookwood Cemetery & Crematorium Anglican section 3 grave 1956 Ashfield Bowling Club Roll of Honour |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 23 Jun 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2681, 4th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Aug 1915: | Involvement Private, 2681, 4th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '8' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Runic embarkation_ship_number: A54 public_note: '' | |
| 9 Aug 1915: | Embarked Private, 2681, 4th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Runic, Sydney |
Help us honour Ralph Norman Spendelove's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Ralph Spendelove was 6 foot three and almost 13 stone when he enlisted during June 1915. He appeared to working for the NSW public service in the Government Printing Division. His father was a master builder and the family lived in Ashfield NSW.
He saw service at Gallipoli, and was seriously ill for several months in England with bronchial pneumonia during 1916. He was awarded a Military Medal for gallantry at Bullecourt during May 1917, when he and another soldier were engaged in a bombing attack which halted an enemy advance and allowed time for others to build a trench barricade. He was badly wounded at Ypres on 4 October, shrapnel in the right thigh, and evacuated to England. During an attack at Strazeele on 16 April 1917 he was awarded a Bar to the MM for swift action in replacing or repairing two Lewis guns that had been knocked out of action; when all his C Company officers became casualties, he repeatedly visited the various posts and helped reorganise the platoons. This he did with a severely wounded leg. The leg was amputated soon after and he was returned to Australia 23 July 1918.
After the war he was appointed to a senior position at Richardson and Wrench, a real estate company. According to the Daily Mail of Sydney in 1921, “He carried out his duties for over a year, apparently a strong, hale, powerful man: then came a slight sickness, and he went from bad to worse, and died on 25 January 1921, age 30. He was one of the bravest, among many brave men in the 4th Battalion. A.I.F.”
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