Have You a Tiger In Your Family?

Rank : WO1 (RSM)

Army Number : 22220453

Unit : Royal 1st Bn, Royal Depot, 4th R Anglian

Biography :

Educated at Mosely Secondary Modern and Bordesley Green Technical School (both Birmingham), Ron Sprason was too young to enlist during WW2, so he volunteered as a runner for the Home Guard. Then on 18.8.1945, at the age of 17 and only 5’5” tall he enlisted as a junior entrant into The Gordon Highlanders. In 1947 he was posted with his Battalion to Egypt and later to Palestine. In 1948 he returned to the UK with the rank of Corporal and returned to civilian life and transferred to the Reserve Force. But after six months, he re-joined as a Regular and was posted to The Royal Warwickshire Regiment as a Corporal. Then in 1950, he was transferred to The Sherwood Foresters.
In 1951 he was posted to 1st Battalion The Royal Leicestershire Regiment in Hong Kong. In October that year he went with it to Korea and it was here that Ron played a vital role in the critical aftermath of the battle known as Maryang-San, named after the mountain of that name. On 19 November his platoon was in a defensive position when they were attacked by a massive Chinese force. As they invaded the trenches of D Company, only the quick thinking of the forward platoon under Lt J A Burke MC and his Platoon Sergeant Ron Sprason saved the situation. For his services in Korea as a Sgt he was awarded a Regimental lanyard. The Battalion returned home in 1952, and in June 1953 Ron was a member of the Escort to the Colours in 1st R Leicesters’ Coronation Detachment at the Coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth II. In 1953 he moved in the Battalion to Iserlohn, Germany, and then in 1956 to the Depot at Glen Parva Barracks as a Training Sergeant on a two-year posting. He left the Depot in 1958 on promotion to CSgt and joined 1st R Leicesters in Plymouth. Two years later in 1960, the Battalion was posted to BAOR, this time to Muenster. In 1961 Ron was posted back to the Depot, firstly as CSM of HQ Company, then later as CSM of Training Company. However, in May 1963 the Depot was closed down, and Ron was posted to 1st Bn The 2nd East Anglian Regiment, stationed in Cyprus. This was one of the first cross-postings of SNCOs between East Anglian Brigade battalions.
In 1964 Ron was promoted to RQMS and returned in late 1965 to the Battalion who had rebadged as the 4th Bn The Royal Anglian Regiment (which 1st R Leicesters had become in 1964). Following the Aden tour, the Battalion had returned to Watchet in Somerset and then in 1966 moved to Malta on an accompanied 30-month posting. On 24.1.1967 Ron took over as RSM from WO1 Jimmy Jenks, and became the last former Royal Leicester to be appointed RSM of The Tigers’ Regular Battalion. In August 1968, the Battalion returned to the UK, to Gordon Barracks in Kent, and he retired from the Army on 1.2.1969, at the age of forty-one.
On leaving the Army, Ron managed first a Post Office and then a Commercial Cleaning Company before starting his own business called Peerless Services. In April 2011, Ron, aged 83, joined the General Committee of The Royal Tigers’ Association and served on it with distinction November 2014.
He died in 2018, aged 89 years.
He was the elder brother of WO2 A Sprason of The Royal Leicestershire and The Royal Anglian Regiments.

Date of Birth : 4.6.1928

Place of Birth : Birmingham

Date of Death : 9.5.2018

Place of Death : Markfield, Leicester

Civil Occupation : Self-Employed

Period of Service : 1945-69

Conflicts : Korean War, Cyprus (UN), Aden Emergency

Places Served : Egypt, Palestine, Hong Kong, Korea, Germany, Cyprus, Aden, Malta