STRICKLAND, William Ernest
| Service Number: | WX10020 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 13 December 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/28th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Tambellup, Western Australia, 3 September 1916 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Locomotive Fireman |
| Died: | 3 May 1977, aged 60 years, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 13 Dec 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX10020 | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Sep 1941: | Embarked 13th Training Battalion (AIF), from Fremantle; disembarked in the Middle East on 23 Sep 1941 | |
| 17 Dec 1941: | Transferred 2nd/28th Infantry Battalion, from 24th Australia Infantry Training Battalion | |
| 27 Jul 1942: | Imprisoned El Alamein, missing in action; officially reported POW on 28 Oct 1942 | |
| 13 Oct 1944: | Embarked from UK (ex Italy) to Australia; disembarked in Melbourne on 17 Nov 1944; by train the next day for Perth, arriving on 22 Nov 1944 | |
| 4 Jan 1945: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX10020 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Cherilyn McMeekin
William was the eldest of five children born to William James STRICKLAND and Madeline Barbara NEILSON.
William jnr and his brother Ron enlisted in the AIF on the same day in Dec 1940. Four days later, their younger brother Alan enlisted, giving his age as 18 (he was actually 17). He was discharged at his own request within weeks. Alan enlisted again in Jan 1942, this time making himself 21, rather than his real age of 18; this time he saw active service.
William and Ron served in the same battallion the 2nd/28th. They were captured at El Alamein when surrounded by German tanks, and ordered to surrender by the commanding officer. Both were POWs 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. William and Ron both survived the incident, along with 120 other Australian POWs.
William married Mary Jean McGREGOR in 1949 in Perth. They had three daughters. There are unconfirmed reports that William died at sea in 1977. Mary did not remarry and died in 2026.
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