At the ripe old age of five, after his second day at school, Richard went missing on his way home. A search party was duly despatched and found him down by the river marshes happily sitting around a bonfire with the local gypsies. This was a scene repeated many times in his life, a little boy who loved adventure and spent most of his life searching for it.
When Richard was only seven, he went on a tour of the Houses of Parliament. Lady Astor, who was quite famous at the time said, “You’re not wearing a tie. You must be a little Bolshevik.” Richard was a boy soprano. His choir sang in five famous cathedrals and toured the Continent. Unable to drink the water in Belgium, the ten year-old choir boys were served beer instead.

He spent his teenage years living through the Blitz in London, where he saw shrapnel falling like rain and V1 flying bombs sailing past his bedroom window. After the war Richard found himself in the Merchant Navy and worked the infamous sea lanes of the China coast where smugglers traded with impunity. His first ship caught on fire not once, but four times. Another ship came under shell fire from the Communist Chinese. There were many strange days at sea and many wild nights on shore. Seedy dives, waterfront brawls, and hilarious happenings. With a fantastic eye for detail, Richard has many a tale to tell including what happens when sailors are captivated by the spell of Tahiti.

On his first trip to Australia, a chance meeting with Elaine on board ship at Melbourne’s Queen Victoria dock changed his life. After a few more years on the New Guinea run it was time to start life in a new country.