ADAMSON, Roylance Eric
| Service Number: | NX11327 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 27 March 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/3rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 13 August 1905 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Accidental (Prisoner of War), Austria, 1 February 1945, aged 39 years |
| Cemetery: |
Klagenfurt War Cemetery, Austria 2 A 5 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Private, NX11327 | |
|---|---|---|
| 27 Mar 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, NX11327, 2nd/3rd Infantry Battalion | |
| 11 May 1941: | Imprisoned The Battle for Crete - May 1941, Taken prisoner in Crete after having transport sunk on evacuation to Egypt and fighting with 16th Brigade Composite Unit. Interred at Stalag 18A in Wolfsburg, Austria, before being killed while on work party at Graz marshalling yard on 1st February 1945 during allied bombing raid. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Allan Cashion
Roylance was born on the 13th of August 1905 in Sydney to Barbara and John Adamson, growing up in the suburb of Five Dock, he would become a chair and cabinet maker along with his brother Noel, while also parading as part of the 36th Battalion in the Citizens Militia Forces, the predecessor to today’s Army Reserve. At the outbreak of war in 1939, he and Noel were in their early to mid 30’s, but still enlisted at Paddington with Roylance on the 27th of March 1940 and Noel in June.
After a period of training in Sydney, Roylance embarked for Palestine, arriving in September 1940, before joining the 2/3 Australian Infantry Battalion. The 2/3 fought in Bardia and Tobruk. The first engagements for Australian troops during the war. By the end of January 1941, both Bardia and Tobruk would be in allied hands.
Roylance and the 2/3rd would remain in Tobruk on garrison duties until March, when they were sent to Greece to resist the impending German invasion. Due to a series of withdrawals it was not until the 18th of April, when they would finally meet the Germans. They would block access to the strategic Tempe Gorge, allowing Allied withdrawals further south. By the 27th, a full evacuation to Egypt was ordered. The majority of the 2/3 were able to get there. Unfortunately 141 troops including Roylance would have their transport sunk, and after being rescued they would form the 16th Brigade Composite unit with men of the 2/2 on Crete.
Roylance and dozens of other men from the 2/3 would eventually be captured, and transported to Austria, spending time at Stalag 18A in Wolfsburg. Stalag 18A was a clearing camp, and so POW’s like Roylance would then be sent to work parties throughout Austria. In a harsh coincidence, Noel would himself be taken prisoner during the fall of Singapore in February 1942, after working in Thailand for almost 3 years, he would be shipped to Fukuoka in January 1945 onboard the hell ship Awa Maru to work in a coal mine. Unfortunately this is where the similarities end.
Prisoners of War captured by Japan had a roughly 65% chance of survival, while those interred by Germany had much better odds at 97%, while Noel was one of the "lucky" ones who survived his experience, potentially though sheer luck, it was bad luck that resulted in Roylance not surviving his interrment. On the 1st of February 1945 while working on the railway in Graz, Austria. Roylance was killed during an allied bombing raid. To compound things, Graz was the alternative target, with Moosbierbaum 200km away the primary target. Cloud cover caused a detour and the Graz rail marshalling yard was attacked instead.
Roylance was only 39.
Today he is interred at Klagenfurt War Cemetery in Austria, one of the 265 Australian’s not to survive German captivity.