RICKETTS, Cecil Ernest
| Service Number: | 5598 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 17 May 1915, Liverpool, New South Wales |
| Last Rank: | Lance Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 15th Field Ambulance |
| Born: | Lismore, New South Wales, 2 June 1897 |
| Home Town: | Darlinghurst, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Chemist's assistant |
| Died: | Natural causes, Randwick, New South Wales, 24 September 1924, aged 27 years |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | New South Wales Garden of Remembrance (Rookwood Necropolis) |
Biography contributed by John Edwards
Lawrence Flynn of Massachusetts, USA writes;
I possess a diary-like book, a collection of poems, ditties, rhymes, and general musings that after year of research, today I had a breakthrough. I have come to the conclusion that I think the book belonged to Cecil Ernest Ricketts.
I lived in Australia for 9 years....1993-2002, yet I have no idea how I came to possess this book. I didn't discover it until years after I moved back to Boston USA.
Private Ricketts appears to have been stationed on the Somme....in what appears to have been a postal/medical base where soldiers passed through. He appears to have asked a number of soldiers to contribute pages to this diary, and I'd say a few dozen did so.
Anyway, I have been trying to figure this out for years, and I think today was the day. I love this little diary. The entries are 100 years old this year. But as much as I love this diary, I think it belongs in Australia....either with Mr Ricketts family, the RSL, or perhaps a university or Australian Historical Society.
If you are a family member of Rick Ricketts, or have a genuine connection this first world war relic, please feel free to contact me - larryj_Flynn@hotmail.com
Kind Regards,
Lawrence J Flynn
Swampscott, Massachusetts
USA
_________________________________________________
"RICKETTS.- September 24, 1924, at Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, Cecil Ernest (Rick), aged 27, dearly-beloved husband of Kathleen Ricketts.
RICKETTS.- September 24, 1924, at Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, Cecil Ernest (Rick), aged 27, dearly-beloved son of Catherine Ricketts and dearest brother of Grace, Doris, and Neville." - from the Sydney Morning Herald 25 Sep 1924 (nla.gov.au)