In 1919 John Ridley was awarded the Military Cross for his actions as a Lieutenant in the 53rd Army Battalion in World War One (at Bellicourt, 1918) . He was a Christian evangelist who co-founded the religious journal
Herald of Hope, as well as establishing the Australian Institute of Evangelism (later to become the Ambassadors for Christ). Ridley was a chaplain during World War Two.
Ridley wrote many biographies of military and religious figures not associated with Australia, including For Valour!, or, The First V.C. (1940), A Heaven-Born General: 'Stonewall' Jackson (1943) and William Lamb: A Preacher and Prophet (1944). He also wrote many small books of devotional and religious instructional literature, including The Unfurled Flag and Other Gospel Messages (1927), A Letter to Converts (1943), Worthy the Lamb and Other Convention Addresses (1945) and The Deep Sweet Well of Love (1954).
