RICHARDS , Ronald Charles
| Service Number: | 403281 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 5 January 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Flight Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 2 Embarkation Depot |
| Born: | Kurri Kurri, New South Wales, Australia, 1 September 1915 |
| Home Town: | Sydney, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Fairy Meadow, New South Wales, Australia, 21 June 2003, aged 87 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 5 Jan 1941: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 403281, No. 32 Squadron (RAAF) | |
|---|---|---|
| 5 Jan 1941: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 403281, RAAF Personnel / Embarkation / Holding Units | |
| 22 Mar 1942: | Wounded Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 403281, No. 32 Squadron (RAAF), Hudson A16 - 169: New Guinea | |
| 3 Mar 1943: | Discharged Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 403281, 2 Embarkation Depot | |
| 3 Mar 1943: | Discharged Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 403281, RAAF Personnel / Embarkation / Holding Units | |
| Date unknown: | Involvement Flight Sergeant, 403281 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Ronald Charles Richards was the 4th of 5 children of Francis Stanley Ralley Richards and Ethel May Parker. Ronald's brother, Albert Ralley Richards, also served in the RAAF
Ronald was employed as a Labourer in Marrickville, NSW and married to Pearl Eileen Lorraine Wilson when he enlisted in the RAAF on 5 January 1941. Ronald was WIA in New Guinea on 22 March 1942 and took his Discharge on 3 March 1943
Following WWII Ronald worked as a Fitter in NSW
Biography contributed by Chris Buckley
In an interview on 22 May 2000 as part of the University of NSW Australians at War archives Ron discussed his service, including work as a wireless operator and air gunner on the first Empire Air Training Scheme through Australia, his injuries and near death experience, and his return to Australia, including the difficulty he had adjusting when he came home wounded.
He says that following his Discharge in 1943, he worked at the Repatriation Department in Sydney - initially in the pesnsions section and then the medical section. He was then charged with opening the Repatiation Office in Woolongong, NSW. He was retired in 1958 against his will - ' All of a sudden I was called up and just pushed out on the scrap heap .... as a totally and permanently incapacitated ex-serviceman. And I rebelled.'
Ron was one of the first members of the Waverley RSL in 1943. He talks about his disappointment that none of his colleagues visited him in hospital in Townsville after he was wounded - his injuries were severe and Ron says 'If I'd been wearing a parachute I'd have been an original DSO - that's dick shot off'. It was only after his retirement, when he was playing golf and ran into an ex editor of the Guinea Gold (Army newspaper in NG in WWII) that Ron learned that everyone thought he had been killed in action.
Ron ends the interview stating that Anzac Day is always hard because it brings back memories 'of all the rotten things that happened'. He says 'If there was any threat to our country, I'd enlist again tomorrow... I'd go through what I went through just to make sure that Australia was right'.
Click images to start slideshow.