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Cenotaph record

Ronald Joseph Belcher

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Identity

About

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  • Title
  • Forenames
    Ronald Joseph AWMM
  • Surname
    Belcher AWMM
  • Ingoa
  • Also known as
    Raymond Joseph Belcher AWMM
  • Service number
    WWII 40931 AWMM
  • Gender
    Male AWMM
  • Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe
  • Religion

Civilian life

About birth

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  • Birth
    3 February 1919 AWMM Birmingham, West Midlands AWMM
  • Date of birth
  • Place of birth
  • Birth notes
  • Address before enlistment
  • Post war occupation
  • Next of kin on embarkation
  • Relationship status

Service

Wars and conflicts

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Military decorations

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Training and Enlistment

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  • Military training
  • Branch Trade Proficiency
  • Enlistment
  • Occupation before enlistment
  • Age on enlistment

Embarkations

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Prisoner of war

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  • Capture details
  • Days interned
  • Liberation date
  • Liberation Repatriation
  • POW liberation details
  • POW serial number

Medical history

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  • Medical notes

Last known rank

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  • Last rank

Biographical information

Biographical information

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  • He was a member of the 'Goldfish Club".

    Date and time of ditching, 13 January 1941, Mediterranean. The cause of the incident due to being shot to pieces. Time spent in water seven hours.

    Believed to be the first New Zealander to arrive in Malta. Of the 103 men that left New Zealand to join the RAF only 3 returned. One of the few people in the world to belong to the Goldfish and Caterpillar Clubs. To have survived from a destroyed aircraft, once by rubber dinghy and the second time by parachute.
    "Survived four aircraft accidents, including a mid-air collision over Milson aerodrome, Palmerston North. member of the 'Goldfish Club' after spending seven hours in the sea off Malta, following a ditiching." (Hanson, p. 80). AWMM
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Death

About death

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  • Death
  • Date of death
  • Age at death
  • Place of death
  • Cause of death
  • Death notes
  • Cemetery
  • Cemetery name
  • Grave reference
  • Obituary
  • Memorial name
  • Memorial reference

Memorials

Memorial

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  • Memorial name

Roll of Honour

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Sources

Sources

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  • External links
    The Goldfish Club (UK).
    http://www.thegoldfishclub.co.uk/
    Further Reference
  • References
    • Martyn, E. (1998-2008). For Your Tomorrow (Vols. 1-3). Christchurch, N.Z.: Volplane Press. AWMM
    • Hanson, C. (2001). By such deeds: honours and awards in the Royal New Zealand Air Force, 1923-1999. Christchurch, N.Z.: Volplane Press. AWMM
      p.80 AWMM
    • Goldfish Club, New Zealand Branch. The Goldfish Club: Roll of Honour 1954 - 2003. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS-2004/32. AWMM

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