RUDD, William Antony Cole
| Service Numbers: | V6741, VX39694 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 14 October 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | Reception Camp |
| Born: | Essendon, Victoria, Australia, 7 December 1917 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Geologist |
| Died: | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 20 October 2019, aged 101 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Springvale Botanical Cemetery, Melbourne |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 14 Oct 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, V6741 | |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Feb 1941: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, V6741 | |
| 13 Feb 1941: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, VX39694 | |
| 6 Jul 1941: | Promoted Corporal, (acting) | |
| 19 Jul 1941: | Promoted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, (acting) | |
| 1 Sep 1941: | Embarked Sydney; disembarked in the Middle East on 25 Sep 1941; reverted to Sapper 27 Sep; promoted A/Cpl 30 Sep; reverted to Sapper 13 Dec | |
| 19 Feb 1942: | Transferred Sapper, 2nd/7th Field Company (Squadron) RAE | |
| 27 Jul 1942: | Imprisoned officially reported POW 30 Sep 1942; interned Camp 82 and 106; entered Switzerland from Italy; married 15 Feb 1945; returned to UK as recovered POW 23 Feb 1945 | |
| 16 Mar 1945: | Promoted Sergeant, Reception Camp, (acting); rank confirmed 20 Jun 1945 | |
| 31 Jul 1945: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, VX39694 |
Help us honour William Antony Cole Rudd's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Cherilyn McMeekin
William was the only surviving son of Rupert and Ivy RUDD. He had twin siblings who both died in infancy before he was born. His maternal grandfather was Edward William COLE, a bookseller and founder of the Cole's Book Arcade in Bourke Street, Melbourne.
At the time of William's birth, the family were living at the COLE mansion in Essendon, Ellenbrae Hall. Rupert was one of the trustees of his father-in-law's estate, valued at £163,000 in 1919, the equivalent of roughly $16 million in the 2020s.
The RUDD family moved to Marilla, a mansion on Toorak Road in South Yarra, where his sister Renee joined the family.
William was a POW on board the Italian transport ship Nino Bixio when it was torpedoed by a British submarine in the Mediterranean on 17 August 1942. The Nino Bixio was transporting Allied POWs from Libya to Italy. William was one of 122 Australian POWs to survive the incident.
He married in Geneva to a young, Dutch woman named Caty OOSTHOEK; they returned to Australia and had four children.
William died a few weeks before his 102nd birthday.
Click images to start slideshow.