P12
MCDONALD, Ronald Bell
| Service Number: | 1909 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 5th Pioneer Battalion |
| Born: | Port Pirie, South Australia, 22 January 1897 |
| Home Town: | Port Pirie, Port Pirie City and Dists, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Carpenter |
| Died: | Keswick, South Australia, 23 August 1938, aged 41 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Port Pirie General Cemetery, South Australia Cemetery: PORT PIRIE Section: PROTESTANT RESERVE C Plot/Grave/Niche: 4 |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 11 Apr 1916: | Involvement Private, 1909, 5th Pioneer Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '5' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Aeneas embarkation_ship_number: A60 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 11 Apr 1916: | Embarked Private, 1909, 5th Pioneer Battalion, HMAT Aeneas, Adelaide |
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Chronicle (Adelaide, SA: 1895 - 1954) Thursday 8 September 1938
Mr. R. B. McDonald
Mr. Ronald Bell McDonald, 41, who died at the Repatriation Hospital, Keswick, on August 23, was a member of a pioneer family. The remains were removed for burial in the Port Pirie Cemetery. Mr. McDonald was a grandson of Mr. John Robert Mc Donald, who came to South Australia in 1848, and was well, known in the early history of Port Adelaide— as a shipbuilder. In 1875 Mr. J. R. Mc Donald obtained the first contract for the deepening of the harbor at Port Pirie, and was referred to by pioneer residents as the one who "dug the ditch." In this work he was assisted by his son, the late Mr. William Bell McDonald, father of the late Mr. R. B. McDonald. In 1915, at Port Pirie, the last-mentioned joined up with the Pioneers in the A.I.F. and saw service in France. On his return to Australia he followed his trade as a builder, both at Port Pirie and Crystal Brook, and it was when he was building a home at the former place that he became seriously ill and had to relinquish work. During his war service he was badly gassed, and three years ago he was taken to Keswick Hospital. A year later he returned home, but the trouble recurred and he was again removed to the hospital. He married Miss Gertrude Hewett, of Port Broughton, who survives, and there are three boys left, the eldest being 14. He was the second son of a family of ten, nine of whom survive —Messrs. J. R. (Port Pirie), W. B. (Adelaide), and C. B. McDonald (Solomontown) ; Mesdames H. Bullock (Kadina), L. Turner (Broken Hill). G. Benton (Solomontown), J. Turner (Solomontown), R. H. Sampson (Port Pirie), and A. H. Smerdon (Glenelg).
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article92421720