LATE PRIVATE F. A. RICKETTS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 10 December 1940, Page 6

LATE PRIVATE F. A. RICKETTS

DEATH BY ACCIDENT IN EGYPT The circumstances of the death of Private F. A. Ricketts, of Nelson, while on service in Egypt, were outlined in a letter from Captain F. W. Huggins expressing sympathy with Mr and Mrs A. W Ricketts in the death of their son. “My task is a very sad one. as I have to write to you about your son’s untimely death.” wrote Captain Huggins. “He was in my Company, as you no doubt know, and in addition being a fellow Nelsonian, made him mean a little more to me than the average man in the Company. You have my deepest sympathy for yourself and your family, and the only thing I can say in consolation is that he died doing his duty. He was carrying dispatches from Battalion H.Q. to a company on guard duties and was riding his motor cycle on the Cairo-Helwan road, and by a coincidence his own Colonel was behind him in a car and saw the accident. Frank rode out from behind a vehicle and met another head-on. The two motors and the cycle went into the canal trying to avoid him. but he was struck and his skull fractured. H was rushed to hospital and everything possible was done for him, including the services of a brain specialist. He was extremely popular, and his mates are very cut up about their loss. He was a splendid fellow, and did his duties cheerfully and well, and his conduct was without blemish. His Platoon Commander speaks most highly of him.” Private Ricketts was well known in Nelson where he was a prominent member of the Nelson Rugby Club. On a number of occasions he played in i Nelson representative Rugby teams.