Donger, Richard – War hero was a founder of Kesteven Rugby

BORN at Peacock Farm, Muston, Richard attended primary school in Muston, followed by The King’s School, Grantham.

On the outbreak of the Second World War, he was a 16-year-old training to be an accountant in Nottingham. On his 17th birthday he joined the Local Defence Volunteers, later known as The Home Guard, and on his 18th birthday enlisted in the Royal Navy (hostilities only) Communications branch (Signals).

He joined HMS Impregnable at Plymouth as Ordinary Signalman and was later recommended for Commission Warrant Training and transferred to HMS Raleigh on a seaman gunnery course, later moving to HMS Victory at Portsmouth, before embarking the battleship HMS Nelson on convoy support en route to Cape Town, Durban and the Middle East.

In July 1942 HMS Nelson returned via Freetown to Scapa Flow and in August, Nelson supported the Pedestal convoy to Malta.

After returning to Rosyth for repairs, Nelson joined Operation Torch to support the landings in Algiers, North Africa. Mr Donger then returned to Gibraltar at the end of Commission Warrant Training, left the Nelson and took passage on SS Sobieski destined for Gourock and for three months up to February 1943 completed his officer trianing at Lancing College as Midshipman RNVR Special Services.

Richard joined SS Duchess of Bedford for passage to Suez and was offered the chance to join RN Commando unit F for “Fox”. He was promoted to Sub-Lieutenant RNVR and later as assistant to Principal Beach Master Commander Ransome and sailed through the Suez Canal for Operation Husky – the assault on Sicily.

In the early hours of July 10, 1943 he landed on Avola Beach as Beach Master and was wounded by shrapnel and received burns to his legs. He was patched up and wounded again the next day; his injuries this time needed a visit to a hospital ship.

After Sicily “Fox” were ordered back to the UK, and Richard was appointed Full Beach Master.

On June 4, 1944 he boarded landing craft carrier HMS Battleaxe at Portsmouth for Operation Overload and his landing craft hit Queen Red sector of Sword Beach at 0610 on June 6 under heavy defensive fire.

At 0700 he was badly wounded in the left upper arm by a sniper and was ordered to a returning landing craft. However, this craft was hit by a shell and he was back in the water and with only one useful arm was drowning.

Fortunately the two German prisoners he was taking back rescued him and got him to another landing craft and he was transferred to HMS Torrington and then to a hospital ship at Portsmouth.

He spent the next three months in various hospitals and for his gallant actions he was mentioned in Dispatches and awarded the Croix de Guerre with silver star.

With beach assaults in Europe over, he returned to general service in April 1945 as 1st Lieutenant/Navigator on HMS Fir, clearing minefields in the Channel and along the Atlantic Wall in the North Sea until he was demobbed in October, 1946.

On returning to civilian life, he decided not to return to accountancy, but instead to return to  farming.

In March, 1947 he married his childhood sweetheart Mary Armitage and they lived in Muston. In 1955 they moved to Peacock Farm.

Sport played a big part in his life and with his brother, Bob, played rugby for Bourne. In 1946 and 1947 he and a few others formed Kesteven Rugby Club playing from Stoke Rochford.  Richard played only one season for Kesteven due to a knee injury.

He also enjoyed playing cricket and he proved a useful batsman, transferring to Belvoir where he played for the rest of his career and was until the end, vice-president of the club.

When his sporting career finished, he took up shooting and around 1970 when the shooting rights to the land on and around Peacock Farm became available, he formed the Muston Shoot with his brother Bob, Les Shipman, Robert Crawford and others.

Richard served on numerous committees including Kesteven Rugby Club, Bottesford Cricket Club, Newark Internal Drainage Board and the Earl of Rutland and Dr Fleming Hospital Trust. He was chairman of the Bottesford Conservatives and a member of the RN Commando Association and the George Cross Island Association.