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MORRIS, William Arthur
Service Number: | WX9424 |
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Enlisted: | 4 December 1940 |
Last Rank: | Private |
Last Unit: | 2nd/28th Infantry Battalion |
Born: | Chelmsford, Essex, England, 12 February 1911 |
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 31 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, Boyanup War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Private, WX9424 | |
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4 Dec 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX9424, 2nd/28th Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour William Arthur Morris's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Cherilyn McMeekin
William was the eldest of five children. He married Maurine Dacre SMITH, known as Molly, in 1939.
William enlisted in December the following year, on the same day as his brother Albert (WX9435).
Tragically, both William and Albert were among the 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.