Celebrating Charles Raymond “Ray” Skerrett

Charles Raymond “Ray” Skerrett, a former University High School student who completed his Leaving Certificate (Year 12 equivalent) in 1940, was recently honoured in a Last Post Ceremony held on 1 June 2024, at the Australian War Memorial. Born in Bendigo on 28 January 2022, to Capt. William Charles Skerrett and Mrs. Amelia Skerrett, following his father’s continually changing station with Australian Instruction Corps, Ray and his family moved around Victoria throughout his childhood. Enrolled in multiple primary schools and three high schools over 5 years, Ray is a University High School student twice over – first attending our school in 1935-36, and then returning for his final year in 1940. 

In his early years, Ray became fascinated with aviation, which turned into a love that governed his career choice upon graduating High School. Supported by Principal Matthew Stanton Sharman as a referee, Ray enlisted in the Royal Australian Airforce on 20 July 1941. Completing his initial flight training in South Australia and Victoria on 27 February 1942, Ray then arrived in the United Kingdom on 16 June 1942 for additional advanced training. By late October of the same year, Ray had achieved the rank of Flight Sergeant. Moving between the Operational Training Units, Conversion Units, and RAF Stations until April 1943, Ray then served with the No. 10 and 35 Squadrons, transferring to the No. 70 Squadron in early September. 

On the night of 27 September 1943 with a crew of 7 men, Ray set off on a bombing raid over Hanover, Germany, and never returned. Declared missing in air operations in September, Ray was officially declared presumed dead in May 1944. Despite the continual attempts of his mother, Amelia, to locate and learn Ray’s fate, Ray was identified in 1949 as one of the airmen buried in the Wunstorf Cemetery in September 1943 – the month of his last mission. Ray is now buried in Hanover War Cemetery and listed amongst 40,000 Australians who died in service during WWII. 

Photo Description: Charles Raymond “Ray” Skerrett, outside the Instruction Corps Barracks, Grattan Street, Carlton. An annotation has been recorded in the bottom left corner, which is as follows: A. Skerrett; UHS 1935. This annotation is believed to have been made by Amelia Skerrett, Ray’s mother, likely in 1935, during Ray’s first year of enrolment at University High School.  Photo & description credit: Skerrett family records, provided by Fiona Rudd (nee Skerrett), 2024. 

Unfortunately, there is very little in the University High School’s archive to shed light on Ray’s time at the school – the information above being located in other repositories. However, ink and paper, such as the names on a class roll, or the grades on a report card, cannot fully capture all the threads that make up the whole of a person – of who they are. And so, despite our best attempts, the portrait we are able to paint of Ray Skerrett is a poor iteration of who Ray really was in life; we are limited to the information listed in records, and the everlasting memories passed on by those who knew him. Words cannot truly capture the love Ray had for aircraft, nor his skills in building models of aircraft and ships – including the first prize awarded in Mildura for a balsawood flying model. Furthermore, they cannot fully illuminate – in bright technicolour - the boy to whom his family and friends were devoted, the boy who died at only 21 years of age.  

We thank the Skerrett family, members of the University High School community, for sharing Ray’s life, achievements, and story, with us – the story of one of our alumni. Together with your family, we pay tribute to Charles Raymond “Ray” Skerrett, who was commemorated in the Last Post Ceremony dedicated to his memory in June. We will honour him, and we will remember him. 

Jennifer Skeels - Student Administration & Archives