Ronald Leslie Neal (1910-1944) was born in Grenfell to Fred and Ethel Neal, and grew up at Ardnai, Greenethorpe. Ron attended Greenethorpe Public School and later worked in the local area. He married Hazel Barney in Sydney in 1937 and had a son Gary in 1938. Ron joined the RAAF in Sydney in 1941, and at the time of his death was in a Bomber Crew of no. 460 Squadron. This was the most highly decorated Australian Squadron in Bomber Command, and suffered the highest casualties. The Avro Lancaster in which Ron and the rest of the crew were flying, was lost over Germany on 28 April 1944 with only one survivor, Thomas Lynch. Ron is buried in the Durnbach War Cemetery, Germany.
'Neal, Ronald Leslie (Ron) (1910–1944)', Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/neal-ronald-leslie-ron-13499/text24194, accessed 12 October 2024.
Australian War Memorial, 081317
20 May,
1910
Grenfell,
New South Wales,
Australia
28 April,
1944
(aged 33)
Germany
Includes the religion in which subjects were raised, have chosen themselves, attendance at religious schools and/or religious funeral rites; Atheism and Agnosticism have been included.