Richard John Hammersley Ryan

Lieutenant Commander Richard John Hammersley Ryan GC RN was posthumously awarded the George Cross, as was Chief Petty Officer Reginald Vincent Ellingworth for the "great gallantry and undaunted devotion to duty" they displayed when losing their lives while attempting to defuse a mine which had fallen on Dagenham in Essex on the 21 September 1940. Notice of the award appeared in the London Gazette of the 20 December 1940. [LondonGazette|issue=35018|supp=yes|startpage=7107|date=17 December 1940|accessdate=2008-01-03] [ [http://www.naval-history.net/WW2MedalsBr-GC.htm The George Cross at Sea, 1939-45 ] ]

The pair had defused many such devices together, and had just successfully defused a device in Hornchurch which was threatening an aerodrome and explosives factory when they were called to Dagenham. The bomb there was hanging from its parachute on a warehouse. [http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=2438700 Casualty details — Ryan, Richard John Hammersley] , Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 2008-02-13]

Ryan was from a naval family, the son of Admiral Frank Edward Cavendish Ryan CBE. He joined the Royal Navy in the early 1920s, was promoted to Lieutenant in 1925, [LondonGazette|issue=33121|startpage=122|date=5 January 1926|accessdate=2008-01-03] and Lieutenant Commander on 1 August 1933. [LondonGazette|issue=33972|startpage=5608|date=25 August 1933|accessdate=2008-01-03] He is buried at Haslar Royal Naval Cemetery.

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