UTTING, Richard Haynes
| Service Number: | Officer |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 9 June 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Sub Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | Merchant Navy |
| Born: | Mawlamyine, Mon State, Myanmar, 29 April 1909 |
| Home Town: | Fremantle, Fremantle, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Bank Clerk - Union Bank |
| Died: | Killed in Action, At Sea, 7 December 1942, aged 33 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Melbourne Union Bank of Australia Limited 'In Memoriam' WW2 Honour Roll |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Lieutenant | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Jun 1941: | Enlisted Royal Australian Navy, Sub Lieutenant, Officer, Merchant Navy |
Help us honour Richard Haynes Utting's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Son of James Horatio and Elna Utting, of Cottesloe, Western Australia; husband of Beryl Amy May Utting, of Cottesloe
Biography contributed by Chris Buckley
The eldest of seven children, Richard was born in 1909 in Myanmar to James Horatio Utting (b1880 in Yorkshire, England) and Elna Haswell (b1886 in Myanmar). James (a Master Mariner and River Pilot) and Elna married in 1908 in Rangoon, Burma and raised their family in Myanmar. In 1936 the family arrived in Fremantle WA on board the Narkunda and settled in Cotteloe, Fremantle WA. James and his six sons all served in WWII.
Richard was working as a Bank Clerk for the Union Bank in 1937 when he married Beryl Amy May Brown (b1907 in Geraldton WA). In 1942 he enlisted in the RANVR as a Sub Lieutenant under the Yachtsman Scheme - Yachtsmen over the age of thirty who could produce a Yachtsman's Certificate were appointed probationary Sub Lieutenants, and following induction were sent to Flinders Naval Depot (Melbourne) for basic training before transportation to the UK. Richard, a Lieutenant in December 1942, was returning to Sydney on board the SS Ceramic after duty on Russian convoys. At midnight on 7 December 1942 the SS Cermaic was 440 miles west of Azores when it was torpedoed by a Geman U-boat (U-515). Of the 656 people on board, there was a single survivor - Sapper Munday, in uniform, was taken prisoner by the Germans. Richard perished.
Beryl remarried in 1946 and died in 2008.