Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of Elijah Frederick and Hilda Myrtle Mitchell, of Prospect, South Australia.

MEMORIES OF MY BROTHER, RON.

Ron grew up in an inner-city location in Adelaide, and, at the age of 15, he and his family, comprising himself, his parents, Hilda and Elijah (known as “Fred”) Mitchell, and an elder sister, Dorothy, and  a younger sister, Thelma, shifted to a house at Fitzroy, a suburb a few kms north of Adelaide.   He had attended the Adelaide High School. 

Upon leaving High School, he began studying accountancy and when he enlisted with the Royal Australian Air Force at the age of l8, he had almost qualified as an accountant.   He was studious and ambitious and came second in the State for Intermediate Accounting and first in the State for Advanced Accounting.   He was an external accountancy student with Hemingway Robinson whilst working full-time at the Adelaide Electric Supply Company.   I have fond memories of our mother giving me a tray of freshly-baked scones, jam and cream and a cup of tea to take down the garden to Ron whilst he was studying under four tall almond trees.   This was an opportunity, not to be missed, for me to sit next to him and to bombard  him with my latest  news and my take on life until he would eventually suggest that maybe I might like to go do the rounds of the local area on my scooter.

Ron attended North Adelaide football matches, swam at the City Baths (situated near or where the Festival Theatre now is,) went horse-back riding in the North Parklands, enjoyed poetry and would ride his bike down to beaches for a swim.

Ron was a loving and attentive brother nine years older than me.   I recall that on most week-day afternoons after school I would be armed with a skipping rope or a ball to while away the time whilst waiting for Ron to return  home from work and for his tram to arrive – at which time I would race up to meet him.   (On one occasion I recall that he introduced me to someone who was walking with us as his “kid sister” and I remember feeling so proud to be that.)  We would walk home together and he would often give me extra interesting information about what I had learned at school that day.   He taught me how to ride a two-wheeler bike  and every so often we would stroll up Prospect Road to buy a milk-shake and/or an ice-cream.    If the day was cold I would keep one hand in his pocket to keep it warm.   His nick-name for me was “Nookums” and I adored him.

In June, l943, Ron enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force.   He trained as a navigator at Port Pirie, Mt. Gambier (see photo of Ron with a towel around his shoulders) and Victoria.   He travelled to Canada for advanced training and then proceeded on to England.   He stopped off at New York en route where his audio recording was made in June, l944.   In England he joined  English and Scottish trainees in the Royal Air Force.

On the 8th January, 1945, Jock, a fellow-trainee from Scotland, was listed to go on a training flight but because he had a bad cold he was grounded and Ron took his place.   The plane stayed on course until it lost contact with head-quarters whilst over the sea near the coast of England.   Air searches failed to find any trace of the Wellington bomber.   Jock had been a friend of Ron’s and was very upset at this turn of events.   He went on to correspond with my mother for a long period after the end of WWII.   Also, the widow of one of the air-men who died in the crash wrote to my mother offering her profound sympathy and the forlorn hope that the crew might still be found – as did the mother of another of the missing crew.   My mother did not completely give up hope of her only and dearly beloved son being found alive for quite a while.   My father, equally devastated, did not hold out any hope as far as I know.

When staff of the Adelaide Electric Supply Company enlisted they were assured of retaining their position without any loss of seniority and that their salaries would be proportionately increased upon their return.   Throughout the war, the Cost Accounts Office sent regular bulletins to all those who were serving.   They contained office gossip, personal contributions and amusing stories.   Some years later I went to work at what had by then become the Electricity Trust of South Australia and found that Ron’s photo was still hanging on the wall of the Cost Accounts Office.

A tribute by Thelma Potter (nee Mitchell) – Ron’s loving sister.

Submitted by Julie Frittum (nee Potter) – Ron’s niece.