Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Leading Aircraftman Charles Thomas O'Ryan (Service No:418976) enlisted in the RAAF at No 1 Recruiting Melbourne on 20 June 1942 as an Aircraftman I - mustered as Air Crew, later re-mustered as Clerk and then Postal Assistant. In 1942, ACI O'Ryan was attached to HQ No 2 Fighter Section and No 1 Fighter Wing Richmond. Promoted to Leading Aircraftman on 15 February 1943, he was attached to No 10 Mobile Fighter Section and 110 Fighter Section before posting to various RAAF Postal Units and No 55 Operational base Unit (OBU). LAC O'Ryan was attached to 7 RAAF Postal Unit at Discharge on 14 March 1946. His father served in WWI and two brothers in WWII.

Charles was born in Melbourne, Victoria in 1921 and joined the Public Service following completion of his education at Christian Brothers' College East Melbourne. In 1938 he joined the Postmaster General's Department as a Telephonist, and was a Mail Sorter when he enlisted in the RAAF in 1942. Following his Discharge in 1946, Charles resumed employment with the PMGs Department as a Clerk in Dandenong where, in 1952, he married Nora Gearon (b1924 in Melbourne, Victoria) - Nora was working as a Clerk in Dandenong. Charles and Nora settled in Melbourne, where they raised their family and Charles worked with the PMGs Department until 1953 when he was admitted to the Bar by the State Full Court to practice as a Barrister/Solicitor. In the early 1970s Charles and Nora moved to the Gold Coast in QLD, where they settled and Charles was a Solicitor. Charles died in 2019 and Nora in 2022.