Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Joseph was the eldest of at least ten children born to John and Christina, of Jedburgh in Scotland. John and Christina and their six eldest children arrived in Western Australia in Oct 1928 aboard Beltana. The family settled in Waroona, a small town south of Perth.

Joseph signed up for the militia forces in Jul 1940 (10th Light Horse) and commenced training in A squadron, #1 Troop as VE/W740. 

In May 1941, he enlisted in the AMF, with his father John as his next of kin. He embarked for the Middle East in Nov 1941 and joined the 2/28 Battalion. 

Joseph's battalion were captured at Ruin Ridge, El Alamein in Jul 1942 when they were surrounded by the enemy. He 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. He was one of the 122 Australian POWs to survive the incident. 

He was interned in several POW camps between Aug 1942 and Sep 1943: Benghazi, Greece, Bari, Udine, Sali and Selve. Joseph described the conditions as reasonable, the rations as insufficient and of poor quality, the bathing facilities as bad, sanitary conditions as fair and recreational facilities as fair.

Joseph was put to work (farming) for eight hours a day, for which he received 20 lire. He received 1 lire a day to spend at the camp canteen. He described the behaviour of the interment camp staff as very vindictive, and that men would be imprisoned for petty offences.

Joseph was one of ten men who left the camp and went to the farm where they had worked. They stayed there for a week and then left for Switzerland. They separated after the first night, and Joseph went on with five others, reaching Switzerland in nine or ten days. He finally returned to Western Australia in Nov 1944.

Unfortunately, Joseph's father John had died in 1943 aged only 55, while on holiday. His obituary (trove.nla.gov.au) called him 'one of Waroona's most prominent citizens'. One of Joseph's brothers, John, enlisted in the Voluntary Defence Corps later that year. His other brother, Harry, had enlisted in May 1942.

Joseph married Irene Dorothy JOSE in Perth in 1942 (reg. 540). One of their sons died at age 17 months in 1950.

Joseph died in 2003. He is interred at Drakesbrook Cemetery, Waroona, along with his wife, son, parents, both his brothers and a sister. His mother, Christina, lived to the age of 98.