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Ron Christian
Ron Christian was the youngest of five children born in 1918 to an Irish family in Perth. He was educated at Perth Boys before joining WA Newspapers (WAN) as an advertising clerk in 1933. His father, George Christian, was a physical education teacher at Perth Modern School and a prominent gymnast and cricketer, and Ron inherited many sporting interests, especially sailing and cricket, as well as being a member of the WAN baseball team.
Ron met his future wife Yvonne Antoine at WAN when they were 17, and they became engaged in 1941 before both enlisted for overseas service at the outbreak of WWII. Ron sailed for the Middle East on the Aquitania in 1941 with the 2/16th Battalion, where he distinguished himself during fierce fighting in Syria, and was promoted in the field. He and Yvonne were reunited briefly in the Middle East before he was redeployed to the Pacific War, and they were eventually married in Perth in February 1943. Ron was awarded the Military Cross (MC) at Isurava/Abuwari in 1942 for conspicuous bravery on the Kokoda Track, and was awarded the Bar to the MC in 1945 for bravery in the invasion of Borneo, by which time he had been promoted to Captain.
Ron returned to WAN and was posted to Melbourne for three years as advertising manager in 1946, then to Sydney until early 1956. On his return to Perth, WAN utilised Ron's military expertise to run the logistics for the successful Safari North that year; he also served the West Australian as advertising manager for many years. His five children were born during these interstate postings: Julie (1944), Jan (1946), Bret (1948), Rod (1949) and Greg (1954). Bret started as a cadet journalist on the Daily News 1967 and left 1977 to start his own suburban newspaper, the POST. Greg also followed his parents into the newspaper industry; Julie, Jan and Rod work in education and the arts.
Ron was an excellent writer and a founder of the Battalion’s Pigeon Post, still published today, to which he was a regular contributor until his death at Madora Bay (where he was also President of the Progress Association) on Anzac Day, 1989.
Commendations for Lieutenant/Captain Ronald Christian for MC and Bar
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References and Links
All data courtesy of Julie Dyson née Christian. The family agreed to the posting of Ron Christian's commendations.
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 18 March, 2022 and hosted at freotopia.org/people/christianron.html (it was last updated on 25 January, 2024), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.