F5430 (O1421, R/31845) Commander William Gray Ritchie AM , as a radar operator; Royal Australian Navy (RAN) HMAS Platypus and corvettes HMAS Broome, Bathurst and Fremantle; North Pacific area including Philippines and Hong Kong, and Australian waters; 1944-1946, interviewed by Margaret Rickard
Accession Number: S01786
Description
Part of a collection of nineteen oral history interviews conducted by the Royal Australian Navy Corvettes Association of Western Australia. Interviewers included John Roberts, Margaret Rickard, Lorna Dodd, William Gray Ritchie and Jack Shepheard.
William Gray Ritchie AM describes his experiences on Royal Australian Navy (RAN) corvettes, HMAS Broome, Bathurst and Fremantle. He describes his schooling; early employment as a surveyor; being ill with scarlet fever; the side effects of the drug Sulfa; recruitment into the RAN; basic training at HMAS Cerberus; radar training at HMAS Penguin; active service; transporting British ex-prisoners of war [ex-POWs]; mine sweeping; with the 20th Mine Sweeping Squadron off Hong Kong; shore leave in Hong Kong; return to Australia and becoming a permanent member of the RAN.
Details
Interviewee
William Gray (Bill) Ritchie
Physical Description
Format: TDK D60 Cassette
Date Made
21 September 1992
Credit Line
RAN Corvettes Association WA Oral History Program
Copying Provisions
Copyright restrictions apply. Only personal, non-commercial, research and study use permitted. Permission of copyright holder required for any commercial use and/or reproduction.
Conflicts
Units
Tags
