Service Details
- Branch of Service
- Army
- Conflict
- World War I (1914-1918)
- Date of Enlistment
- 07/02/1916
- Date of Discharge
- 24/04/1921
- Place of Enlistment
- Casula NSW
Personal Details
- Gender
- Male
- Date of Birth
- 31/03/1892
- Place of Birth
- Michelago NSW
- Address (at enlistment)
- Boureong via Gunning NSW (previously 'Horse Park', Gungahlin ACT)
- School(s) Attended
- Mulligans Flat School (Gungahlin)
- Occupation
- Driver
- Next of Kin
- William Ryan (father), Boureong via Gunning NSW
Unit and Rank Details
- Service Number
- 15523
- Final Rank
- Private
- Final Unit
- 7 Field Ambulance AIF
Notes
Ryan was born in Michelago in 1892 but in 1895 his father bought 'Horse Park' in Gungahlin where he grew up and went to school. He enlisted in February 1916 shortly before 'Horse Park' was compulsorily acquired by the Commonwealth and was farewelled at Ginninderra in June 1916 along with his brother Matthew.
Ryan served with the 7th Field Ambulance (part of the 2nd Division) on the Somme from December 1916. The 2nd Division fought at Lagnicourt and Bullecourt in April and May 1917 before moving to Belgium and participating in the Battle of Third Ypres (Passchendaele) in September 1917. At Polygon Wood, in September 1917, Ryan was carrying wounded men to the rear when shrapnel from a shell explosion passed through his neck causing paraplegia. Medical reports upon his return home state that he had total paralysis of both arms and legs. Ryan died in hospital in Sydney in 1926.
Description - height 5 feet 11 inches, weight 148 pounds, chest 34-37 inches, fair complexion, blue eyes, brown hair, Catholic.
Sources
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)
Queanbeyan/ Canberra Advocate - 8 June 1916, 12 June 1916
Lyall Gillespie, 'Ginninderra - Forerunner to Canberra', 1992
Sydney Mail - 17 July 1918
Canberra & District Historical Society Newsletter Aug. 1976 (p.11)