STANLEY, Charles Thomas
| Service Number: | WX7574 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 6 August 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/28th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Essex, England, 23 July 1905 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | horse driver |
| Died: | Perth, Western Australia, 1 September 1980, aged 75 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Karrakatta Cemetery & Crematorium, Western Australia |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 6 Aug 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX7574 | |
|---|---|---|
| 5 Jul 1941: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , 13th Training Battalion (AIF), from Fremantle, disembarked in the Middle East on 25 Jul 1941 | |
| 27 Oct 1941: | Transferred Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, 2nd/28th Infantry Battalion, detached for special duties from 24 Mar 1942; rejoined the unit on 27 Jun 1942 | |
| 27 Jul 1942: | Imprisoned El Alamein, missing in action; officially reported POW on 28 Oct 1942; interned 4 camps | |
| 13 Oct 1944: | Embarked from UK (ex Italy) to Australia; disembarked Melbourne on 17 Nov 1944; by train the next day to Perth, arriving 22 Nov 1944 | |
| 13 Apr 1945: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX7574 |
Help us honour Charles Thomas Stanley's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Cherilyn McMeekin
Charles was the fourth of six children born to William Henry STANLEY and Eliza Ann WHIPPS. His mother died in 1920.
Charles appears to be the only one of his family to emigrate to Australia. He arrived in Fremantle in 1923 aboard Ballarat at age 18 giving his occupation as labourer, an occupation in demand at the time.
In 1930, Charles married widow Dorothy PASKINS (nee BRISCOE), who was about seven years his senior. They had a daughter named Dorothy Louise the following year.
Dorothy, who was born in Dublin, Ireland, had three children with her first husband, William Francis PASKINS. Their youngest son, also William, died in 1928 just weeks before his 2nd birthday, soon after arriving in Perth. Then William snr died at age 31 in an accident while a pillion passenger on a motorbike in Sep 1929.
Charles enlisted in 1940. He was captured at El Alamein when surrounded by German Tanks and ordered to surrender by the commanding officer. Charles 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. Charles was one of 122 Australian POWs to survive the incident.
Charles died in Sep 1980 at age 75. Dorothy died in Oct 1994 at age 97.
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