Ralph was born on 13 April 1919 in Hackney, London to Bernard (Barnett), who was born in London and Bessie nee Zimmerman who was born in St Petersburg, Russia. Bernard married Bessie in 1915 and in 1916 their first son Julius was born followed by Ralph in 1919. In 1921, Bernard was listed as working at the Marble Arch Pavilion as a violinist.

In 1939, the family were living at 133 Mildmay Road in Islington, London and Ralph was working as a ladies clothing machinist. He enlisted on 15 December 1939 into the The Queen’s Royal Regiment.

On 3 September 1943, the Allies invaded the Italian mainland. The invasion coincided with an armistice signed by the Italians, who then re-entered the war on the side of the Allies. The Allied objectives were to draw the German troops back from the Russian front and more particularly from France, where an offensive was planned for the following year. Progress through southern Italy was rapid despite fierce resistance, but by the end of October the Allies were facing the German winter defensive position known as the Gustav Line, which stretched from the Garigliano River in the west to the Sangro River in the east.

The first attempts to break through the western end of the line were unsuccessful and as late as 17 January 1944 the Garigliano was crossed and Minturno taken two days later but the Allies eventually ran out of ground and the site was under fire from German small arms. Ralph was killed on 21 January 1944.