OSBORNE, John Thomas
Service Number: | WX5719 |
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Enlisted: | 22 June 1940 |
Last Rank: | Private |
Last Unit: | 2nd/28th Infantry Battalion |
Born: | England, 10 July 1915 |
Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
Schooling: | Fairbridge Farm School, Pinjarra, Western Australia |
Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
Died: | Accidental, At sea (Nino Bixio), Mediterranean Sea, 17 August 1942, aged 27 years |
Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Col 94 |
Memorials: | Alamein Memorial (El Alamein), Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Fairbridge War Memorial, Harvey Sub Branch RSL Honour Roll (WW2), Harvey War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Private, WX5719 | |
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22 Jun 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, WX5719, 2nd/28th Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour John Thomas Osborne's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Cherilyn McMeekin
John arrived in Western Australia aboard Euripides, bound for Fairbridge Farm School, Pinjarra from Barnados Homes in England. Fairbridge has a record of his birthdate as 6 Jul 1914.
John 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.