Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Ross Toufeek Rasheed was born 16th July 1921. He was born in Orroroo, South Australia, and went to school at Carrieton Primary School and Saint Peters College. Ross left school to help his Dad as a grazier on their farm on the Walloway plains, between his hometowns of Orroroo and Carrieton. He eventually retired to Jamestown, in SA’s mid north, with his wife, Gwenda. Ross and Gwenda had 9 children, many of whom still live around the Orroroo and Carrieton area. 
 
Ross enlisted for service to his country on the 21st May 1940, aged 18 years and 11 months.  
He was called to go to war in November 1940. He was enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force on 11th of November 1940 and was discharged on the 1st of August 1945. He left Australia in August 1941 and returned from overseas duty in June 1944 after serving in places from England to the Middle East.  
 
His military training in Australia included RAAF Initial Training School in Somers, Victoria, wireless air gunnery school in Ballarat, Victoria, and gunnery training at Evans Head, NSW, where he was promoted to Sergeant in July 1941.  
After spending many months at St Marks Embarkation Depot, Ross was sent to the UK, leaving Sydney during September 1941. He was aboard the SS Monterey USA, which he found very luxurious. He sailed to NZ, Suva, Pago Pago and Honolulu before arriving at San Pedro during October 1941, then to San Fransisco. He then travelled by train to Vancouver and Halifax for 7 days from 10th-17th October 1941. On the 23rd October 1941, Ross boarded HMS Worcestershire which was an Armed Merchant Cruiser arriving in Greenock, England on 3rd November. He then went on to Bournemouth, Hastings and St Leonards on Sea. 
 
Ross was a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Australian Air Force after completing special training in the UK. His special training in the UK started in January 1942 and included Aircraft to Surface Vessel Radar Training in Prestwick, Scotland, and Operational Training Unit in Silloth, England, where Ross was promoted to Flight Sergeant. He’d reported “much flying done, promoted to Flight Sergeant”. He kept a diary every day during the war, and frequently mentioned writing letters to Gwenda. He also mentioned later in life that he “got a kick out of fighting for his country”. 
After his special military training in the UK, Ross carried out operations in many countries. This included Egypt, Libya, Palestine, Amaga, Crete and places in the Mediterranean.  He was in the 459 RAAF squadron and was a Flight Lieutenant. His job in World War 2 was to bomb and sink enemy ships using machine guns, deck chargers and bombs.  
 
Ross’ 459 squadron was formed in 1942 and served as a maritime patrol and bomber unit in the Mediterranean until early 1945. They operated from six main bases and ten detachment locations in a chain of airfields spanning 1000miles off of the north African coastline from the bay of Sirte to the Levant and Southern Arabia. Still in 1942, the axis were bringing supplies in and out at El Alamein using ‘f-boats’ which were 300 tonne barges, from Tobruk to Mersa Matruh. Ross’ squadron’s first job was a success with low level down attacks on the ‘f-boars’. 17 were destroyed and 3 others were damaged which weakened the enemy and their position. 
After these attacks, the 459 squadron got a reputation as efficient, mobile and aggressive search and strike forces. Ross did have one crash while in the war, but he and his co-pilot weren’t injured. His biggest worry wasn’t crashing but being caught and becoming a prisoner of war.  
 
One story from Ross Rasheed’s war service that showed a time he thought he might be caught was after he picked up a new plane in Norwich, England. He flew to Portreath in Cornwall and then 8.5 hours to Gilbraltar in June 1942. The next day, Ross flew to Mersa Matruh where storms pushed them 250 miles off course, which meant he flew near Sicily and Crete (German). In a book by Kane McGuire, it was recalled the time Ross thought he’d become a prisoner of war: 
“Ross Rasheed was the wireless operator on Hudson flight FH296. The flight was fairly uneventful until they reached the north African coast, west of Mersa Matruh. As they flew along the coast, they could see a large number of vehicles going east, but assumed they were British. When they landed, they’d just come to a stop, when Fred Dolly accidentally fired the Turret Machine Guns.  
Surprised by this, Ross looked out from the Astrodome and saw a jeep crammed with chaps racing out towards us. They pulled alongside and shouted at us in a guttural voice. We thought for a moment that we’d become POW’s before the war had even started. Fortunately they turned out to be South African’s, and told us that enemies are only hours away. We’ll give you a bite to eat to refuel you and then you better get away immediately, which they did.” 
 
Ross and his crew then made his way to Cairo. Ross was involved in Operations, Shipping strikes, Anti Sub and Convoy escort until he finished his Tour of Operations on 21st June 1943. He flew 353.15 hours in operations totalling 71 sorties. He loved flying, and after this tour of operations, he was posted to Egypt, where he instructed until June 1944. He was discharged 1st September 1945, after just over 5 years of services as a Flight Lietenant. He flew a total of 951 hours.  
 
Luckily, he loved flying, and often talked about it later in life with his kids and grandkids. He liked the Hudson aircraft and described them as ‘very comfortable with plenty of room to move around’. He alwo said the Wellington aircraft were ‘magnificant’ and ‘could come home with a million bullet holes in it and wouldn’t be affected. They’d just fix the holes and off you’d go. They could carry more weapons and bombs than any other aircraft which I flew’.  
 
Ross kept a diary, which he wrote in each day he was at war. His family have enjoyed sharing some of this information, and also still have some of his silk maps showing places he’d been and fought. He’d told his grandson that he got a kick out of fighting for his country.