RICHARDS, Peter
| Service Number: | WX8721 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 23 October 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/28th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | West Derby, Lancashire, England, 31 January 1908 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Warehouseman |
| Died: | Accidental, At sea (Nino Bixio), Mediterranean Sea, 17 August 1942, aged 34 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Alamein Memorial, El Alamein War Cemetery Column 94, |
| 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, WX8721 | |
|---|---|---|
| 23 Oct 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX8721, 2nd/28th Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour Peter Richards's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Cherilyn McMeekin
Peter's birth was registered as Peter Dobson RICHARDS in the first quarter of 1906 (given as 1908 on enlistment). He was the sixth of nine children, all born in West Derby, Lancashire. At least two of his siblings died in infancy.
Peter arrived in Fremantle from London aboard Ormonde in 1925, aged 19. His parents and youngest brother (James) came to WA in 1928 on the same ship. They lived in Treslove, near Grass Patch. Some of his brothers moved to Victoria.
His brother James served in the RAAF in WWII (38104).
Peter married Thelma Aileen RUTLAND in 1941 in Perth. They had no known children and Thelma did not remarry; she died in 1999 aged 86.
Peter 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.