SHARDLOW, Leslie
| Service Number: | WX11959 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 29 April 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/28th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Maddington, Western Australia, 7 September 1920 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Hairdresser |
| Died: | Perth, Western Australia, 24 June 1993, aged 72 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Privately Cremated The Western Australian Garden of Remembrance Nedlands, City of Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 29 Apr 1941: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX11959 | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Sep 1941: | Embarked 2nd/28th Infantry Battalion, from Fremantle; disembarked in the Middle East on 23 Sep 1941 | |
| 27 Jul 1942: | Imprisoned Siege of Tobruk, missing in action; gun shot wound left leg 31 Aug 1942, admitted Caserta military hospital; officially reported POW on 16 Oct 1942; interned Camp 66 Italy; transferred to Stalag 18A Germany; deplaned in UK as recovered POW on 16 May 1945 | |
| 18 Jun 1945: | Embarked from UK; admitted to ship hospital 12 Jul 1945; discharged from ship hospital 17 Jul 1945; disembarked in Sydney, Australia on 24 Jul 1945; returned to Western Australia for rehabilitation treatment | |
| 10 Sep 1945: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX11959 |
Help us honour Leslie Shardlow's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Cherilyn McMeekin
Leslie Dunbar SHARDLOW, known as Les, was the youngest child of Harry Dunbar and Maud SHARDLOW. Harry travelled to Western Australia from England in January 1912 aboard Seydlitz, with his wife Maud following a year later aboard Gothic, with their two young sons Charles and William. Sadly, Charles died at sea only four days before they arrived in Fremantle.
Harry and Maud had two more children in Perth - Madge in 1915 and Leslie in 1920.
Harry continued in his trade as a hairdresser on arrival in Perth, but then decided to try his hand as a victualler. He inadvertently fell foul of licensing laws and declared bankruptcy in 1926. Harry returned to hairdressing, with his youngest son Les also taking up the trade.
Both William and Les enlisted in WW2. Les was captured at Ruin Ridge at Alamein. He 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. Les was one of 122 Australian POWs to survive the incident.
He married Joan St Clair COLLINS, who had served in the AWAS, in late 1945. He died in 1993 at age 72.
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