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) |
World War 1 Service
| 17 May 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 5598, Liverpool, New South Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| 8 Oct 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 5598, 2nd Australian General Hospital: AIF, HMAT Warilda, Sydney | |
| 8 Oct 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 5598, 2nd Australian General Hospital: AIF, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '23' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Warilda embarkation_ship_number: A69 public_note: '' | |
| 18 Mar 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 5th Division Headquarters | |
| 20 Nov 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 15th Field Ambulance | |
| 21 Nov 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 15th Field Ambulance | |
| 25 Nov 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lance Sergeant, 15th Field Ambulance | |
| 17 Jun 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Lance Sergeant, 5598, 15th Field Ambulance |
Help us honour Cecil Ernest Ricketts's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography 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 - [email protected]
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)