On 23 May 2024, Able Seaman Ronald (Ron) William Frederick Young (S/4282), sailed into the sunset just after his 102nd birthday. Ron served on HMAS Vendetta as a gunner, during the period she was in the Mediterranean, at the time of the siege. In fact, at the start of the siege HMAS Vendetta was anchored in Tobruk harbour to bolster the garrison’s anti-aircraft defences. Around the 16th of April 1941, she was ordered to return to Alexandria, Egypt where she eventually joined the legendary Scrap Iron Flotilla until October 1941, and successfully completed 39 individual passages between Alexandra and Tobruk as part of the ‘Tobruk Ferry Service’, often referred to as the ‘Spud Run’. The success of the soldiers holding out during the siege would not have been possible without the incredible efforts of the navy. As Ron was a Vendetta crewmember during this time, most siege veterans would consider him a fellow ‘Rat of Tobruk’.
Ron is survived by four children and many grandchildren and great grandchildren. They should be very proud of their family patriarch.
(Photo above taken close to Ron’s 100th Birthday)
(Note: More information regarding the exploits of the HMAS Vendetta can be found in the February 2023 edition of the Tobruk House News.)