Ronald William Buckingham

Ronald William Buckingham

Ancestry.com
Personal Information
Date of Birth	11 Apr 1912
Place of Birth	Kelmscott, Western Australia
Death	21 Dec 1988, aged 76
Place of Death	Kelmscott, Western Australia
Age at Enlistment	29 years, 10 months
Description	5'6" (1.68m) tall ; 168lb "lb" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property. ; fair, complexion ; blue eyes ; light brown hair
Occupation	Orchardist
Religion	Congregational
Address	River road, Kelmscott, Western Australia
Next of Kin	Wife , Mrs Vera Buckingham
Military Information
Reg Number	W54965
Date of Enlistment	17 Feb 1942
Rank	Corporal
Unit/Formation	2nd (Fremantle) VDC Battalion
Post War Details
Fate	Remained in Australia

Ronald William Buckingham

Headstone Information
Date of Birth	11 April 1912
Age at Death	76 years
Additional Names	Vera Buckingham
Transcription	In Loving Memory of Ronald William Buckingham. Died 21 December 1988. Age 76 years. Loved husband of Vera. Father of Jean, Faye, Maurice and Roslyn.

Pre War

Young Ron had four sisters: Vera, Ella, Nancy and Kathleen.

Electoral Roll

Entries state that between 1936 and 1943 Ron lived on River road, Kelmscott, as a boy he belonged to the Kelmscott Boy Scouts. They went to dances at the Kelmscott Hall on River Road and after five years of courting the couple married on 31 Oct 1936 Ronald Vera Buckingham (nee Treeby) (1915 - 2008) at St Matthew's in Armadale. At time of Ron's enlistment (1942) the couple had three children. The fourth child, Roslyn, was born in 1950. From 1949 to 1958 Ronald lived on River Road in Kelmscott.

War Service

On 17 Feb 1942 Ronald had been mobilised, enlisting at Armadale in the 2nd (Fremantle) VDC Battalion. Another set of documents gives his date of enlistment as 22 March 1942. Regardless, on 1 July Ronald was appointed Lance Corporal, and on 11 Mar 1943 he was promoted Corporal. His services were terminated at Fremantle on 6 Mar 1945 at his own request.

Discharge date unknown.

Post War

According to the local newspaper from 1945 until 1954 he was a member of the Kelmscott Agricultural Society. Later for 21 years, he became a bus driver with MTT on the Armadale Route. In his younger days he worked as an orchard hand delivering fruit to the West Perth markets. Ron first met his wife to be, Vera, at the state Subiaco markets. He worked as an orchard hand from 1963 to 1980 at 71 Brookton Highway in Kelmscott (as a portion of River Road had been renamed to Brookton Highway) as an orchardist. Ron and Vera celebrated their golden wedding anniversary on 31 October 1986 with 100 friends and family. Ron was also a member of the Kelmscott Congregational Church where he played the banjo with the organist at Sunday morning services and looking after the church gardens. Ron died at the age of 76 years leaving a widow, Vera, a son, three daughters, twelve grandchildren and five great-children.

Ron's wife Vera died on 5 June 2008 in Kelmscott, aged 93.