OSBORN, Richard Edward Savin
| Service Number: | 404511 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 13 September 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Warrant Officer |
| Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
| Born: | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 5 April 1920 |
| Home Town: | Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia, 2 April 2001, aged 80 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Buderim Lawn Cemetery - Crematorium & Memorial Gardens |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 13 Sep 1940: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Warrant Officer, 404511 | |
|---|---|---|
| 28 Jul 1942: | Imprisoned Middle East / Mediterranean Theatre, reported missing ex-458 Squadron after air operations over Tobruk; confirmed POW 10 Oct 1942; interned in various camps in Italy and Germany | |
| 3 Dec 1945: | Discharged Royal Australian Air Force, Warrant Officer, 404511 |
Help us honour Richard Edward Savin Osborn's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Cherilyn McMeekin
Richard, known as Dick, was the eldest of three sons born to Reverend Arthur Harold OSBORN and Cordelia Mary JONES. His father was an army chaplain in WWI (Captain) and his brother John was a career RAN officer, also with the rank of Captain.
Richard and five fellow crew members were reported missing after air operations in July 1942, when they were forced to land 30 miles south-east of Tobruk. Richard was interned at various camps until being returned to the UK in 1945.
His digitised file (NAA) contains a written transcript of a postcard he sent home to his family, dated 24 Sep 1942: "I am still in the same place but I am doing famously, but we are not allowed to go to camp until we haven't a scratch left, hence the rather long stay - but perhaps it is the best way; there are quite a number of us in here, so we are never in want of someone to talk to, but conversation is rather limited now when we can't complain about the weather of S. Italy. My regards to all & please don't worry."
Richard's father, Arthur, was a rector in Bundaberg, Queensland, and the dean of Wide Bay and Burnett. He died in August 1943, aged 56. According to his obituary in the Brisbane newspaper, The Telegraph, Arthur was the son of an archdeacon, and Cordelia was the daughter of Canon Richard Jones of Bangor Cathedral in Wales.
Savin was Richard's maternal grandmother's maiden name. His mother Cordelia lived to age 99 (1893-1992). It is reported she was a pupil of Godolphin School, one of the oldest girls' schools in England, and was a childhood friend of the wife of the British Prime Minister, Clement Atlee (Brisbane Telegraph, 23 Apr 1949, p. 9).
No marriage has been found for Richard. He died in 2001 aged 80.