PAYNE, Alfred Charles
| Service Number: | WX5247 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 26 July 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/28th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Pingelly, Western Australia, 8 August 1918 |
| Home Town: | Pingelly, Pingelly, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farm Hand |
| Died: | Perth, Western Australia, 16 April 2004, aged 85 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Karrakatta Cemetery & Crematorium, Western Australia Crematorium Rose Garden B/172 |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 26 Jul 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX5247, 2nd/28th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Jan 1941: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , WX5247, 2nd/28th Infantry Battalion, embarked overseas from Fremantle to the Middle East; disembarked Palestine 2 Feb 1941 | |
| 15 Jun 1942: | Promoted Corporal, 2nd/28th Infantry Battalion, appointed L/Cpl 30 Mar 1942 then promoted to Cpl | |
| 30 Sep 1942: | Imprisoned El Alamein, missing in action 27 Jul 1942; officially reported POW 30 Sep 1942; interned Italy and then transfered to Stalag 18a | |
| 4 Jul 1945: | Embarked deplaned in UK as recovered POW 23 May 1945; disembarked Sydney ex B2 8 Aug 1945; returned to WA 14 Aug 1945 where admitted to hospital for rehabilitation | |
| 6 Oct 1945: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX5247, 2nd/28th Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Cherilyn McMeekin
Alfred Charles PAYNE (known as Charlie) was the third of five children born to Alfred PAYNE and Charlotte NAIRN. His father was a farmer in Bowgada, near Morawa in WA's Mid West region.
Charlie contracted measles only a few months after enlisting in Jul 1940, and spent about two weeks at the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Subiaco before rejoining his unit with the 2/28 Battalion.
He embarked overseas early in the new year. Soon after his arrival in the Middle East, Charlie was designated a Driver Mechanic, grade III. He was appointed to Lance Corporal in Mar 1942, then promoted to Corporal in Jun 1942.
On 27 Jul 1942, Charlie was reported missing in action. He was officially reported as a POW on 30 Sep 1942. Charlie's battalion was captured at El Alamein when tank support failed to arrive and they were overwhelmed by German tanks.
Charlie 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. Charlie was one of the 122 Australian POWs to survive the incident.
He spent many months in various internment camps in Italy and Austria, including Stalag 18A. He described the accommodation (converted stables) as overcrowded, with poor heating and washing facilities.
Charlie finally returned to WA in Aug 1945. He married Lily BANKS in Perth in 1955 (reg. 342) and died in 2004 aged 85.