Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Ronald, known as Ron was born at Ardrossan on the Yorke Peninsula on the 7th May 1919, the second child of Ethel Florence and John William Ingram. Ron had an older sister, Phylis with both children attending the local Cummins School then Ardrossan High. John, a farmer, was particularly interested in horses which he regularly entered at the regional Shows where he was rewarded prizes in the ‘Walking Hacks’ category, with one horse, ‘Patchen Bells’ performing particularly successfully.
Ron was just twelve when his father, who had been in poor health for some time, died at home on the 18th January ‘33. He was buried in the local Ardrossan Cemetery. Ron effectively took over the management of the farm in the ensuing years. He found time to also represent Ardrossan in football, frequently being mentioned for his goal scoring abilities and in the best player lists. Ron was also involved in other local activities, including the Ardrossan Literary and Debating Society. In a topical debate, he was the lead speaker on the negative for 'Should we have a White Australia', with his side being awarded the win by six points.
However, with the outbreak of WWII 21-year-old Ronald, along with many other local young men, enlisted at Wallaroo in February ’41 and was soon allocated the number SX11257. He trained at Terowie in the mid-north in preparation for the desert conditions of the Middle East where he arrived on the 14th May. Within weeks he was promoted to Acting Corporal, attending a Small Arms School before heading to the Amiriya Staging Camp.
Unlike the comparatively healthy conditions at Ardrossan, Ron was affected by enteritis and dysentery. On joining the 2/48th Reinforcements, Ron reverted to being a Private but by August the following year, his leadership skills saw him with the rank of Lance Corporal.
With the death of fellow Ardrossan solider, also in the 2/48th Battalion, SX9327 Tom Bowman, in the fierce fighting of October ’42, Ron later wrote to his sister, Phylis “Tom was the most popular officer in the 48th and that losing him made the men determined to avenge him.” Such was the strength of the strong bonds between the men in the battalion.
An early edition of The Advertiser in October ’42 described such an incident in which Ron was involved.
‘Four Australians—three of them hoping to rescue friends and the fourth out to avenge a friend— made their way for 2,000 yards across no-man's-land in broad daylight yesterday until they were within a few hundred yards of the enemy's front line. Then, with the enemy's big guns crashing shells at them and machinegun and rifle bullets kicking up the earth around them, they withdrew. "I'm afraid we ran a bit then," one of them said later, "but by then our job was done." The Australians were selected from volunteers who had offered to go out under cover of a dust storm to search for traces of three members of a South Australian battalion. These men had been left behind when their patrol fought out a fierce tommy-gun battle with the Germans in the darkness of no-man's-land on the previous night. There were plenty of volunteers, but finally SX7985 Sgt. J. A. R Buckley, of Glandore, Adelaide, who had been with the patrol, WX10124 Lt Ron Kennelly, of Mt. Lawley (WA) (killed on the 24th), and SX7808 Sgt. Jack Weston, of Lockleys, Adelaide, were chosen. Cpl. Ron Ingram, of Yorke Peninsula (SA), who was anxious to avenge a mate killed in the recent Tel El Isa fighting, went too.” Unfortunately, the dust-storm cleared after the group found evidence of their men’s capture but were soon under heavy fire as they returned to their own lines, unscathed.
Both the Port Lincoln Times and the Advertiser were quick to praise the local soldier’s heroism. ‘Cpl Ron Ingram, who is 22, enlisted in the middle of last year and served in Syria and Egypt. He was educated at the Cummins and Ardrossan High School. Cpl Ingram took over the management of his father's farm after he death of his father some years ago.’
A further sense of pride was evident in the News at a similar time, praising ‘An unusually large number of South Australians--seven-are named in the war news. Four South Australians who played a prominent part in the present Egypt offensive are named.’ Of those, three were from the 2/48th Battalion, fast becoming recognised for their bravery and resilience. They were SX7008 Capt. Basil King. of Yorke Peninsula, mentioned as bounding down a hillside to ask a British tank commander for assistance during a particularly torrid encounter. Cpl. Ron Ingram, also of Yorke Peninsula, for his work in crawling between shallow trenches distributing ammunition, while SX9323 Lce.Cpl. Jack Abbott, of Glenelg pays a tribute to the work of the tanks.’
The 6th November Advertiser at the time also praised Ron’s brave stand in the desert. ‘Cpl Ron Ingram, of Ardrossan, who was one of four South Australians mentioned in a dispatch from W. J. Munday, "The Advertiser" war correspondent in the Western Desert, on Wednesday as having taken part in a gallant stand after they had been stranded in the German line, is 22 and enlisted in the AIF in the middle of last year.’
For Ron, a welcome return to Australia via Melbourne followed in November ’43. Following leave, Ron then travelled to Queensland with his battalion preparing for conflict in the tropical conditions of New Guinea. Arriving in Milne Bay Ron was awarded the rank of Corporal. Unfortunately, conditions in the tropics soon contributed to Ron developing an extremely high temperature (Pyrexia of Unknown Origin) followed soon after by Dengue Fever and later, malaria. This persisted on his return to Australia in February ’44. That year he was promoted to Sergeant, returning to Morotai and then Tarkan for the closing days of the war.
Ron was finally discharged on the 10th January ’46. The following year, more examples of his courage and leadership were reported in the March ’47 issue of the Advertiser ‘WO II Ronald Hamilton Ingram, MM, of Ardrossan, as a patrol sergeant, took part in 37 patrols on Tarakan and led 13 of them. For nine consecutive days he led small patrols to within 30 or 40 yards of a particularly strong enemy position, harassing them while other forces cut their lines of communication.’
With peace declared, Ron’s bravery and leadership was finally acknowledged with his Military Medal being gazetted on the 6th March ’47.
Aged 61 Ron died on the 30th December ’72 and rests in Centennial Park Cemetery.
Researched and written by Kaye Lee, daughter of Bryan Holmes SX8133, 2/48th Battalion.