Kenneth Lovett Ridings (7 February 1920 – 17 May 1943) was an Australian

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er and air force pilot who died in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Cricket career

An opening batsman and occasional leg-spin bowler, Ken Ridings made his first-class debut for

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

in December 1938 at the age of 18. He played all six of South Australia's matches in that season's

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Marsh Sheffield Shield) is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Sheffield Shi ...

, which South Australia won. In the match against

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

in Brisbane he scored 122 in the first innings, adding 197 for the first wicket with

Richard Whitington Richard Smallpeice Whitington (30 June 1912 – 13 March 1984) was an Australian first-class cricketer who played for South Australia and after serving in World War II, represented the Australian Services cricket team, which played in the Victo ...

and 109 for the second wicket with his captain,

Don Bradman Sir Donald George Bradman, (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. Bradman's career Test batting average of 99.94 has bee ...

, and took 2 for 27 and 4 for 26. The next season, against Queensland in Adelaide, he scored 151, adding 196 in 115 minutes with Bradman, in South Australia's total of 7 for 821 declared.

Military service and death

Royal Air Force 1939-1945 Coastal Command CH16148

Ridings enlisted in the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

in July 1941 and served as a flying officer. On 17 May 1943, a

Short Sunderland The Short S.25 Sunderland is a British flying boat patrol bomber, developed and constructed by Short Brothers for the Royal Air Force (RAF). The aircraft took its service name from the town (latterly, city) and port of Sunderland in North East ...

took off from

RAF Mount Batten RAF Mount Batten was a Royal Air Force station and flying boat base at Mount Batten, a peninsula in Plymouth Sound, Devon, England. Originally a seaplane station opened in 1917 as a Royal Navy Air Service Station Cattewater it became RAF Cattewa ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

with 12 people on board, including Ridings, who was serving in the role of first pilot. The plane was detailed to conduct an anti-submarine sweep over the

North Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

. During the sweep, the Sunderland was shot down by

Junkers Ju 88 The Junkers Ju 88 is a German World War II ''Luftwaffe'' twin-engined multirole combat aircraft. Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works (JFM) designed the plane in the mid-1930s as a so-called ''Schnellbomber'' ("fast bomber") that would be too fast ...

s, killing everybody on board.

References

External links

* * 1920 births 1943 deaths South Australia cricketers Cricketers from Adelaide Australian cricketers Australian military personnel killed in World War II Australian World War II pilots Royal Australian Air Force officers Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II D. G. Bradman's XI cricketers {{Australia-cricket-bio-1920s-stub