Scott, Richard Thomas

Son of Richard Thomas Scott and Florence Muriel Jackson m.04/06/1914.
Siblings:
Alma Mavis – 6-11-1914 died Logan 6-6-2003
Edith Alice – 25-1-1916 died 8-9-1962 buried in Longreach.
Leslie Vera- born Muttaburra 10-7-1917 died 13-1-1921 buried in Muttaburra

Richard married Muriel Ena Trott in Cardiff Wales on the 20 June 1942 when serving in the UK during WWII.
Mick (Richard Thomas) Scott was born in Muttaburra on 3 August 1920 and attended the Muttaburra State School I expect between about 1925 and 1932. He lived and worked in Muttaburra and on local stations until 1939 when he joined the RAAF and served in World War 2. Dad is in good health and retired at Caloundra where he still lives in his own home. After the War he did not return to Muttaburra as he married a Welsh lady (my mother Muriel Trott) in Cardiff Wales and thought it would be too hot for her in western Queensland so decided to settle on the Sunshine Coast. Dad did not return to Muttaburra until 2012 when my brother Rick (Richard Thomas Junior) and I took him on a “Return to Muttaburra” trip. Rick and Dad have made two more trips back to Muttaburra since. During these visits we were able to meet John Ahern on the Maylands station where Dad and his parents lived and worked. John as you would expect was very welcoming and we will be forever grateful for his, his partner Ingrid and brother Peter’s kindness.

As it turns out Dad actually knew the grandparents of John and Peter when they were on Thornton. During our trip to Muttaburra in 2012 Dad told us this story about Mr and Mrs Ahern on Thornton in about 1926. Dad’s father also Richard Thomas Scott (1885-1944) had a Wool Carrying Business and carried Wool from the Muttaburra area to the Railway at Prairie near Hughenden. This was a horse drawn wagon and on this occasion the whole family was travelling on the wagon which may have been a regular practice as Dad’s mother had a sister living in Prairie. At Thornton a load of wool was collected and the family stayed at Thornton overnight. Dad could always remember Mrs Ahern (old Mrs Ahern as he described her) as she made a cake which she shared with the family.

Dad has always marched on ANZAC Day but like all other veterans will not be able to march this year due to the COVID-19 crisis. Thought you may be interested in the attached article I prepared for the media and some photos. The photos contain the following:
1. Official RAAF photo taken in 1940.
2. Recent one taken at the Caloundra RSL at an event held each year for Word War 2 Veterans.
3. On horseback at Muttaburra (about 1938) which is the last photo we have of him at Muttaburra before he went to war.

We had a 100th Birthday Party booked at the Caloundra Boat Club for Dad for 1 August 2020. However, that has been suspended for the present due to the current restrictions. It remains to be seen how we will celebrate the big birthday but it will not be forgotten.

STATEMENT for the Media on
RICHARD THOMAS (Mick) SCOTT
World War 2 Veteran.

Like many veterans long-term Sunshine Coast resident Mick (Richard Thomas) Scott a World War 2 Veteran will be unable to march this ANZAC Day 25 April 2020. This is due to the COVID-19 virus which has caused the cancellation of Marches for ANZAC Day this year.
This will be the first time for many veterans that they will not be able to march on ANZAC Day to remember their fallen comrades. For World War 2 veterans 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the end of the war. Therefore, many of those veterans may have been attending marches on ANZAC Day since they returned home from the war.
Mick Scott now 99 years of age, (he turns 100 later in the year) always attends an ANZAC Day March and Service which he usually shares with his family and friends. However, this year will be different as contact with family and friends will be limited. While he respects, understands and supports the restrictions we now live under, he hopes he will still be able to have a beer with a friend but at a safe distance.
Mr Scott was born in Muttaburra western Queensland on 3 August 1920. He grew up in the Muttaburra area and was working as a stockman at the outbreak of World War 2 in September 1939. He decided to apply to join the RAAF leaving his horse in Muttaburra and taking a train to Brisbane where his parents had recently purchased a corner store at Morningside. It was here he was accepted for the RAAF and after spending Christmas with his parents took a train to Laverton Vic where he was formally enlisted on 5 February 1940 and commenced training.
In the RAAF Mr Scott was assigned to 10 Squadron and later in the year was deployed to Great Britain where he served in Coastal Command as a Tail Gunner on the Sunderland Flying Boat. He was to spend the duration of the war based mainly in Britain which also included missions to other European theatres of the war, North Africa and the Mediterranean.
During the War in Cardiff Wales Mick Scott met and married Muriel Trott on 20 June 1942 and two children were born in the war years. In 1946 Mr Scott returned to Australia with his young family settling at Eudlo on the Sunshine Coast on a pineapple and banana farm where two more children were born.
At Eudlo Mick and Muriel Scott became involved in community life which included being associated with the establishment of an RSL Sub-Branch in Eudlo in which Mick was the Sub-Branch Treasurer. (The Sub-Branch has now closed and merged with the Palmwoods Sub-Branch. The original charter of the RSL Eudlo Sub-Branch is on display at the Palmwoods Memorial Hall.)
In 1951 the family moved to Landsborough where Mr and Mrs Scott soon became very active members of the Landsborough community including the Landsborough RSL Sub-Branch when it was formed in January 1953. (There had been a previous Landsborough Sub-Branch established in about 1920 but it had folded.)
Mick Scott held the positions of President and Treasurer of the Landsborough Sub-Branch at various stages. (In December 1991 due to declining membership the Glasshouse Mountains and Landsborough Sub-Branches amalgamated into the Glasshouse Country RSL Sub-Branch which is still active today and conducts ANZAC Day Services and Marches at Glasshouse House Mountains and Landsborough.)
After over 25 years at Landsborough Mr and Mrs Scott returned to Cardiff Wales for an extended period where Muriel was able to catch up with her family.
On returning to Australia in 1979 Mr and Mrs Scott settled at Kallangur where Mick soon became an active member of the Pine Rivers RSL Sub-Branch. In 1987 after another visit to Cardiff Mick and Muriel retired to Golden Beach Caloundra where Mick still lives today. Sadly, after over seventy years of marriage Mrs Scott passed away on 16 March 2013.
RSL membership has continued with the Caloundra Sub-Branch. Mr Scott is an active member of the Caloundra Power Boat Club where he enjoys the company of his fellow Club Members. Most afternoons a group of his friends gather at the same bench table overlooking the passage which has become known as the Table of Knowledge (TOK).
Mick Scott often plays golf at the Glenview Par 3 Golf Course and apart from his walks to the Boat Club also walks regularly along the foreshore at Golden Beach which is the only activity he can now maintain under the current COVID-19 restrictions.
This year due to the current Coronavirus crisis Mick Scott will not be able to march in the Landsborough ANZAC Day March and Service which he has been attending in recent years. However, he will remember the importance of the day and will respect his fallen comrades by watching an ANZAC Day Service on television and observe a minute’s silence.
Mr Scott encourages others to also remember the fallen on ANZAC Day by whatever avenue they feel appropriate including by watching a Service on TV or has been suggested by observing the minute’s silence in their driveway.
[Source: Prepared by Les Scott on behalf of the Scott Family.
Email: les@homeloanspecialists.net
Phone: 07 3288 6400 Mobile: 0427064650.]

STATEMENT for the Media on RICHARD THOMAS (Mick) SCOTT 100th Birthday

Sunshine Coast resident Richard Thomas (Mick) Scott a World War 2 Veteran will celebrate his 100th birthday on Monday 3 August 2020.
Mr Scott was born in Muttaburra Western Queensland on 3 August 1920. He was the fourth child of Richard Thomas Scott (Senior) and Florence Muriel Scott (nee Jackson) who at that time lived and worked on the Mount Cornish Sheep Station.
Mick grew up in the Muttaburra area living and working on Sheep Stations before following in his father’s footsteps as a Stockman. It was here that he developed a great interest in working and thoroughbred horses and also a keen love of sport which he maintains today, still playing Golf once a week.
At the outbreak of World War 2 he enlisted in the RAAF. He was assigned to 10th Squadron and deployed to Great Britain where he served in Coastal Command as a Rear Gunner on the Sunderland Flying Boat.
He spent the duration of the war based in Britain which also included missions to other European theatres of the war including Africa, the Mediterranean, Gibraltar, Malta and Egypt.
During the War in Cardiff Wales Mick met and married Muriel Trott on 20 June 1942. Two children were born during the war, son Rick in 1943 and daughter Janet in May 1945.
After the War ended Mick returned to Australia alone in December 1945 to find a home for his young family in Australia. He arrived back in Australia in January 1946 and was discharged from the RAAF on 20 February 1946 at Redbank.
Mick decided that the Sunshine Coast (then known as the North Coast) would be a good place to settle. He felt that the weather in his hometown of Muttaburra would be too harsh for his young Welsh wife. A farm to grow pineapples and bananas was purchased at Eudlo and the family soon joined him arriving in Australia in July 1946.
Mick and Muriel Scott became involved in community life in Eudlo which included being associated with the establishment of an RSL Sub-Branch. Two more children were born a son Les in October 1947 and daughter Lorraine in January 1951.
In 1951 the Eudlo farm was sold with the family moving to Landsborough where Mick obtained work as a truck driver at the Landsborough Shire Council. Mick and Muriel soon became very active members in the Landsborough community in many activities including the RSL Sub-Branch.
After over 25 years at Landsborough Mick and Muriel sold their farm in 1976. Mrs Scott had only had one opportunity in 1974 to return to Wales since she arrived in Australia in 1946. Therefore, it was decided to do an extended visit to Cardiff Wales.
After two years in Cardiff the couple returned to Australia where they settled at Kallangur in the Pine Rivers for family and employment purposes. At Kallangur it did not take long for Mick to become an active member of the Pine Rivers RSL Sub-Branch. In 1986 retirement was nearing so the Kallangur home was sold followed by another extended visit to Cardiff.
Returning to Australia in 1987 Mr and Mrs Scott retired to Caloundra purchasing a home at Golden Beach where Mick still lives today. Sadly, after over seventy years of marriage Muriel passed away on 16 March 2013.
On moving to Golden Beach Mick purchased a small tinnie for fishing in the Pumicestone Passage which he did regularly for many years but has now disposed of the boat. He also became an active member of the Caloundra Power Boat Club.
At the Boat Club Mick enjoys joining with his fellow Club members in the afternoon for a chat and a few drinks which provides great companionship. He plays golf at the Glenview Par 3 Golf Course once a week and walks regularly to keep active. He also enjoys some travels with daughter Lorraine on Cruises and Caravanning with son Rick.
He has also maintained his interest in the RSL as a member of the Caloundra Sub-Branch. He still marches on ANZAC Day which he could not do this year due to the COVID-19 restrictions. This would have been the first time he has not marched since returning from the War. However, he still remembered the importance of the day and stood at dawn at the end of his driveway.
While the COVID-19 restrictions have had an impact on proposed 100th Birthday celebrations the important milestone has not been forgotten by his family and friends with events as follows:

1. The Centenary Year commenced with a 14 day New Year’s Eve Cruise to New Zealand from 29 December 2019 to the 12 January 2020 with his four children and their spouses.
2. On Saturday 1 August, his four children will host a Family Party at the Caloundra Boat Club.
3. On Sunday, an informal Bar B Que with family in a local park.
4. On the Birthday itself 3 August 2020 the following:
-Morning tea at home with Family and Friends.
-2-00pm RSL Presentation.
-Late afternoon Boat Club gathering with his fellow Club Members.
5. Tuesday 6-00am Golf followed by Golf Club Lunch.

[Source: Prepared by Les Scott on behalf of the Scott Family. Email: les@homeloanspecialists.net Phone: 07 3288 6400 Mobile: 0427064650.
28 July 2020]