DALLAS, Roderic Stanley
| Service Number: | Officer |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Major |
| Last Unit: | No. 40 Squadron (RAF) |
| Born: | Mount Stanley, Queensland, Australia, 30 July 1891 |
| Home Town: | Mount Morgan, Rockhampton, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Mount Morgan Boys School, Queensland |
| Occupation: | Army Officer |
| Died: | Killed In Action, France, 1 June 1918, aged 26 years |
| Cemetery: |
Pernes British Cemetery Plot II, Row E, Grave 38 |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 1 Jun 1918: | Involvement British Forces (All Conflicts), Major, Officer, No. 40 Squadron (RAF) |
|---|
Help us honour Roderic Stanley DALLAS's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Robert Kearney
Dallas, Roderic Stanley (1891–1918)
by E. P. Wixted
Roderic Stanley Dallas (1891-1918), airman, was born on 30 July 1891 at Mount Stanley station near Esk, Queensland, son of Peter McArthur Dallas, labourer, and his wife Honora, née Curry. The family moved to Tenterfield, New South Wales, and about 1898 to Mount Morgan, Queensland. Dallas attended the local school and in July 1907 joined the assay office of the Mount Morgan Gold Mining Co. At night he studied chemistry and technical drawing at the technical college.
Dallas led an active, mainly outdoor life. He became a sergeant in the school cadet corps and was later a lieutenant in the Mount Morgan Company of the 3rd (Port Curtis) Infantry Battalion. Other interests were gymnastics, Rugby Union and amateur theatricals. When his family moved to Brisbane in 1912, Dallas and his brother stayed at Mount Morgan.
In 1911 Lindsay Campbell, who had established the Queensland Aero Club in Brisbane, formed a similar club at Mount Morgan. Next year a visiting American aviator, Arthur Burr Stone, carried out the first powered flight in Queensland at Rockhampton. Dallas, who was already interested in flight and had studied the flight of birds for years, was inspired. He had built a frail glider but failed in an attempt to launch it. He corresponded with other enthusiasts abroad and, to raise the money required for travel, he and his brother worked as miners at the Mount Morgan Co.'s quarries on Iron Island. He built a large-scale seaplane there, but while experimenting with it at Marble Island he lost it in the sea.
By 1912 Dallas was 6 ft 2 ins (188 cm) tall and weighed 16 stone (101 kg). He did not drink and smoked rarely. His voice, said by his father to be made for a bullocky, was useful on the stage but he usually spoke quietly, and was never heard to swear. His eyesight was exceptional. He paid his own way to England in 1915 but met with difficulties in trying to become an airman. He thought of an acting career in the United States of America, but advice from an Australian aviator, Sydney Pickles, and assistance from Australia House gained him entry to the Royal Naval Air Service. At the entrance examination he topped the eighty-four students, and on 5 August won pilot's licence No.1512.
Read more - see Australian Dictionary of Biogrphy in links
Biography contributed
Roderic Stanley DALLAS was born on 30th July, 1891 in Mount Stanley near Esk in Queensland
His parents were Peter McArthur DALLAS & Honorah CURRY
He served in the Australian Military Forces, the Royal Naval Air Service & the Royal Air Force and was awarded the DSO, DSC & Bar and the Croix de Guerre (France)
Roderick was killed in action in France on 1st June 1918 & is buried in the Pernes British Cemetery
IN MEMORY
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