Richard Anderson was born in country New South Wales, and was the eldest of six children. In 1969 he 'joined the defence force and after basic training went to the School of Signals at Balcombe in Victoria'. He successfully completed the Cadre Course in 1975, this qualified him to wear the "sandy beret" of a soldier in the Special Air Service. He had many postings including Sydney, Perth, Darwin and Canberra, and in 1990 with the rank of sergeant, he had applied for his discharge after more than twenty-one years in the army. Anderson was a keen story teller, and told many stories of his army exploits.
