Russell Pinkerton was born in Tamworth NSW in June 1927 and enlisted in the RAN on the 4th of June 1945 as an Ordinary Seaman at the age of 17. Russell was the only child of William and Ivy Pinkerton of Scone NSW. He completed his basic training at HMAS Cerberus before posting to the depot HMAS Penguin in November 1945.
In late January 1946, Russell absented himself for a week. As no punishment is recorded on his Service Certificate, he clearly got off lightly and in April he joined the HMAS Uralba, a stores carrier taken up from trade and which was in the process of being returned to its owners. In June he joined the Heavy Cruiser HMAS Australia for two months before returning to Penguin where he remained until discharged in March 1947.
Post war Russell returned to Scone working initially as a shop assistant and later as a labourer. In 1946 he married Gwendoline Gibson in Scone. In the 1960s the couple had moved to Sydney where Russell was employed as a clerk, but by the late 1960s it appears that the couple had separated with Russell living alone in the Newcastle area. Russell would later remarry, to Beryl Wilder a fellow divorcee.
Russell Pinkerton passed away in Nambucca Heads NSW on the 12th of August 2010 aged 83. His body was cremated and his ashes interred in a memorial wall at Lavertys’ Funeral Home in Macksville NSW.
Sources
Service Record - Australian National Archives
Nominal Roll - Department of Veterans Affairs
