HINSON, George Benjamin
| Service Number: | WX7304 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 2 August 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/28th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Perth, Western Australia, 19 June 1915 |
| Home Town: | Busselton, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Butcher |
| Died: | Busselton, Western Australia, 23 November 1993, aged 78 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 2 Aug 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Sergeant, WX7304 | |
|---|---|---|
| 26 Jul 1941: | Wounded Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), WX7304, 2nd/28th Infantry Battalion, Middle East / Mediterranean Theatre, Shrapnel wound, right elbow | |
| 11 Sep 1942: | Imprisoned Reported missing in action 27 July 1942, officially reported confirmed POW 11 Sep 1942 | |
| 29 Oct 1945: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Sergeant, WX7304 |
Help us honour George Benjamin Hinson's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Cherilyn McMeekin
George was the second of four children born to Benjamin and Margaret, who had married in Fremantle in 1913. The family settled in Busselton in WA's south-west. His father was accidentally killed in 1933 while working as a night watchman in Harvey, aged 45 (see https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/147523028).
George's older sister Grace and younger brother Eric enlisted in WWII; his younger sister Roma was too young to enlist.
George 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.
George was a POW until July 1945, first in Italy and then in Germany (Stalag 18a). He was deplaned to a transit camp in the UK, returning to WA in September 1945 aboard Otranto.
During his brief time in England, George married Jean McNIFF in Liverpool, Lancashire (Jun qtr 1945, 8b 328). George arranged for Jean to join him under the war brides scheme and for some weeks they exchanged letters. Then Jean declared her love for another, and never made the trip (see https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/76029322).
George found love again and married Ethel Margaret (Meg) SARTORI in 1948 in Nannup (see https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/147585549). Meg passed away in 2015.