MCGREGOR, Walter
| Service Number: | WX9639 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 4 December 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
| Born: | Guildford, Western Australia, 16 January 1919 |
| Home Town: | Perth, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | station hand |
| Died: | Margaret River, Western Australia, 8 August 1971, aged 52 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Margaret River Cemetery |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Mingenew District Road Board WW2 Roll of Honour |
Biography contributed by Cherilyn McMeekin
Walter was the fifth of nine children born to Angus and Mary, who lived in Bayswater WA. Two of his five brothers died in infancy.
Walter enlisted in Dec 1940. He embarked for the Middle East from Fremantle in Sep 1941, after some months at training battalions in Northam. He was appointed Acting Lance Corporal in Jan 1941, then promoted to Acting Corporal in May 1941. He reverted to Private after joining the 2/28th Battalion from Reinforcements.
Walter 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.
After almost two years as a POW, Walter returned to WA in May 1945. He married Violet LYNN in 1951 and had four children. He died in 1971, aged 52.