Edited transcript of an oral history of Warrant Officer William Ryan - a fighter or transport pilot in four separate wars. He was born on 13 June 1923.

Originally from the Riverina region of NSW, Bill, along with his three brothers, enlisted to fight in the second world war. Bill overcame educational disadvantages to become an RAAF pilot undertaking numerous missions in New Guinea and other islands in the Pacific. Following the war he was posted to occupied Japan, after which he participated in the Korean and Vietnam wars as well as the Malay conflict. His brothers spent time as POWs in Germany and working on the Burma Railway. Bill married a Tasmanian woman and moved to Tasmania in 1960 and operated a cattle stud as well as a highly successful horse stud.

The oral history follows his early experiences growing up in rural Australia, his experiences of war and its aftermath and farming in Tasmania.

These records are part of the holdings of the Tasmanian Archives