Ronald Graham HOWARD

HOWARD, Ronald Graham

Service Number: 23341
Enlisted: 4 July 1939
Last Rank: Stoker
Last Unit: HMAS Penguin (IV) 1939-1940/HMAS Brisbane 1940-1942/HMAS Moreton (I) 1942-1994 (Depot)
Born: Solomontown, South Australia, 17 November 1921
Home Town: Port Pirie, Port Pirie City and Dists, South Australia
Schooling: Port Pirie High School, South Australia
Occupation: Barman
Died: Accident, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia , 20 March 1941, aged 19 years
Cemetery: Rookwood Cemetery & Crematorium
Naval Section Church of England Portion
Memorials: Adelaide WW2 Wall of Remembrance, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, City of Port Pirie WW2 Memorial Gates, Port Pirie Navy Memorial
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World War 2 Service

4 Jul 1939: Enlisted Royal Australian Navy, Stoker, 23341, HMAS Penguin (IV) 1939-1940/HMAS Brisbane 1940-1942/HMAS Moreton (I) 1942-1994 (Depot)
Date unknown: Involvement

Dodged war death, died in accident.

Ronald Graham Howard was born on the 17th November 1921 in Solomontown, Port Pirie, South Australia and was the youngest of a family of five. He was educated at Solomontown School and Port Pirie High School. A Barman before joining the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) on the 4th July 1939, he trained as a Stoker at HMAS Cerberus before being drafted to HMAS Hobart (a Modified Leander Class Light Cruiser) where he spent 12 months on overseas service.

The ensuing months were spent escorting troop convoys in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea during which time she visited Colombo, Bombay, Aden, Trincomalee and Chakdina.

Hobart was at Aden when Italy entered the war on the 10th June 1940 and her first shots against an enemy were fired two days later when her anti-aircraft guns opened fire on three Italian aircraft during a raid on Aden. Seven days later Hobart returned the compliment when her Walrus aircraft was flown off, carrying out a bombing attack on the Italian wireless station on Centre Peak Island in the Red Sea. There was no opposition and the target was reported as being severely damaged. On the 1st August 1940 Hobart arrived in Berbera, British Somaliland, escorting and landing reinforcements where she remained there assisting in a general disembarkation while providing protection against any possible attack from the sea. The British however, were heavily outnumbered by three Italian columns advancing overland and on the 15th of August a general evacuation of the territory from Berbera was ordered. Hobart assumed the role as the operational headquarters throughout the evacuation where the harbour area suffered a number of enemy air attacks.

Hobart continued escort and patrol duties as a unit of the Red Sea Force until October 1940. Following a brief refit at Colombo, she returned to Sydney on the 3rd of January 1941. Ron was the first member of the fighting forces to return home on leave during the war and along with another sailor, given a civic reception. Ron was the youngest member of the Port Pirie Sub-branch of Returned Sailors Soldiers and Airmen’s League.

A cruel twist of fate two months later saw the death of Ron Howard; his cap blew off as he was standing on the running board of a tram travelling on William Street to Kings Cross in Sydney where he had just moved into a flat. As he leant out and backwards to see where it had fallen he came in violent contact with a stationary tram and was killed instantly. He was buried with naval honours in Sydney on the 23rd March 1941.

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Biography contributed by Faithe Jones

Son of Mrs. W. HOWARD of Port Pirie, SA

After about 16 months Overseas service with the Royal Australian Navy, Ronald Graham Howard, 19, naval rating, returned to Sydney and was struck  by a tram and killed. Howard's cap was blown out of a moving tram in William Street, King's Gross, on March 20. He leaned out from the footboard of the  tram in an effort to catch it, and  another tram travelling in the opposite direction hit him. 
At the inquest yesterday the City Coroner (Mr. Oram) found that death was accidental.

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