CLARKSON, Charles Wintringham
| Service Number: | WX9612 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 4 December 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
| Born: | Dongarra, Western Australia, 24 March 1920 |
| Home Town: | Dongara, Irwin, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Dongara, Western Australia, 23 December 2005, aged 85 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Dongara Cemetery |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 4 Dec 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX9612 | |
|---|---|---|
| 11 Jul 1945: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX9612 |
Help us honour Charles Wintringham Clarkson'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 youngest of eight children born to Joseph and Myra. He stated his year of birth as 1920 on enlistment, but his birth was registered in 1922 (Irwin district, reg. 11). His mother died when he was only about 16 years old.
Both of his brothers, Norbert and Reginald, served in WWII.
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. Most were from the 2/28th Battalion. Charles was one of the 122 Australian POWs to survive the incident.
In May 1945, the Daily News reported that Pte. C. W. Clarkson was in a convalescent camp in WA. The article stated that he had roamed northern Italy with partisan forces for 14 months after the collapse of Italy (see https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/78470677).
Charles married on 24 January 1950 to Shirley BOND at St John's in Dongara (see https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/258743273). He was interred at Dongara Cemetery in 2005, aged 83.
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