Warrnambool RSL has wished a very happy 101st birthday to one of its valued service members, Richard Hards this week – with Mr Hards and his wife also celebrating a second important milestone on the same date.
“Yesterday we had the pleasure of Richard Hards and his beautiful wife Jean alongside their families in to celebrate not only the fact Richard has surpassed a century plus one here earthside but also to celebrate 65 years of marriage,” the RSL wrote on its Facebook page.
“Happy Anniversary from all of us here at the Warrnambool RSL.”
Richard Hards enlisted, at the age of 21, into the Australian Army on the 21 July 1941.
He would serve with the 22nd Battalion, and saw action against the Japanese during World War II in the Huon Peninsula and New Britain campaigns. The Huon Peninsula campaign was a series of battles fought in north-eastern Papua New Guinea in 1943–1944.
The New Britain campaign was initiated by the Allies in late 1943 as part of a major offensive which aimed to neutralise the important Japanese base at Rabaul, the capital of New Britain, and was conducted in two phases between December 1943 and the end of the war in August 1945.
Richard would return home and was discharge on the 15th of January 1946.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE #mateshipliveshere #thankyouforyourservice
