MCGRADE, Ernest Leo
| Service Number: | WX6549 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 16 July 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/28th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Perth, Western Australia, 22 March 1919 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Accidental, At sea (Nino Bixio), Mediterranean Sea, 17 August 1942, aged 23 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Col 93 |
| Memorials: | Alamein Memorial (El Alamein), Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Private, WX6549 | |
|---|---|---|
| 16 Jul 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX6549, 2nd/28th Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour Ernest Leo McGrade's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Cherilyn McMeekin
Ernest's parents married in Perth in 1911. He was their youngest child and had a brother and two sisters. His sister Marie was a Corporal in the RAAF; she lived to age 101. Ernest was actually born in 1921 (reg. 807) but gave his year of birth as 1919 when he enlisted in 1940.
Biography contributed by Cherilyn McMeekin
Ernest was one of 41 Australian POWs killed when the Italian transport ship Nino Bixio was torpedoed by a British submarine in the Mediterranean on 17 August 1942. The Nino Bixio was transporting Allied POWs from Libya to Italy. Of the 122 Australian POWs to survive the incident, four died later by execution. Most of the Australian casualties were from the 2/28th Infantry Battalion.