MCEWAN, Ronald Hector
| Service Number: | VX51782 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 20 March 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/24th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Inglewood, Victoria, Australia, 28 July 1918 |
| Home Town: | Inglewood, Loddon, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Inglewood, Victoria, Australia, 6 June 1955, aged 36 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 20 Mar 1941: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, VX51782, 2nd/24th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Sep 1942: | Imprisoned Middle East / Mediterranean Theatre, missing in action from 27 Jul 1942; transfered from Italy to Stalag 18A, then to Stalag 357 in Apr 1944; deplaned in UK 8 May 1945 | |
| 11 Jul 1945: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, VX51782, 2nd/24th Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Cherilyn McMeekin
Ronald was one of four sons born to William and Laura in Inglewood, Victoria. Two of his brothers also served in WWII (the younger falsely giving his year of birth as 1920 - he died in 1985 aged 62).
Ronald enlisted in Mar 1941, two weeks after his older brother Kenneth. 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. He was one of the 122 Australian POWs to survive the incident.
He described the behaviour of the staff in the internment camps as childish and the conditions as 'no good'. He mentioned he received medical treatment as he was paralysed from the hips down.
Ronald was discharged in July 1945 at his own request, due to compassionate grounds. He died in 1955 aged only 37 (reg. 21067).