RYAN, Richard Leo
| Service Number: | 3427 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 4th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Glen Innes, New South Wales, Australia, 28 July 1896 |
| Home Town: | Uralla, Uralla, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway Porter |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 11 September 1918, aged 22 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Uralla St. Joseph War Memorial Gates, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 13 Oct 1915: | Involvement Private, 3427, 4th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '8' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Port Lincoln embarkation_ship_number: A17 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 13 Oct 1915: | Embarked Private, 3427, 4th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Port Lincoln, Sydney |
Help us honour Richard Leo Ryan's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Richard Leo RYAN (Service Number 3427) was born on 28th July 1896 in Glen Innes. He began working in the Railways on 15th January 1912 as a junior porter in the Traffic Branch. He remained in this position until 5th August 1915 when he enlisted in the AIF. He was 19 when he enlisted, He embarked at Sydney on 13th October 1915 on HMAT A17 ‘Port Lincoln’.
By 17th January 1916, he was in Abbassia in Egypt. On this day he was admitted to hospital with diphtheria. After a brief stay in hospital, he was discharged and proceeded to join his Battalion again on 16th February. He was in Tel-el-Kebir (still in Egypt) at this time. One month later, he embarked from Alexandria on 31st March to join the British Expeditionary Forces. He disembarked at Marseilles on 12th April 1916.
After about two months in the field, he was found Absent Without Leave on the afternoon and night of 23rd June 1916. As punishment he was fined two days’ pay. Just a few days later, he was admitted to hospital in England with a septic finger.
On 18th January 1918 he was admitted to hospital in England for venereal diseases. He was in hospital for 32 days, and after several more months in England, re-joined his Battalion in France on 27th August 1918.
A little less than a month later, he was discovered to be missing in action on 11th September 1918. At a Court of Enquiry held in Belgium on 2nd May 1919, he was reported to have died on 11th September. He is commemorated at the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Picardie, France.
Following his death, his brother was sent his war medals – the 1914/15 Star, the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.