QUINN, Hugh Francis
| Service Number: | QX8099 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 26 May 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/2nd Machine Gun Battalion |
| Born: | Miles, Queensland, Australia, 4 January 1918 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | School teacher |
| Died: | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 1 October 1983, aged 65 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Mount Gravatt Cemetery & Crematorium, Brisbane |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 26 May 1940: | Involvement QX8099 | |
|---|---|---|
| 26 May 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Sergeant, QX8099, 2nd/2nd Machine Gun Battalion | |
| 26 May 1940: | Enlisted | |
| 28 Dec 1940: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, 2nd/2nd Machine Gun Battalion, from Sydney; disembarked Middle East (Egypt) 30 Jan 1941 | |
| 8 Feb 1941: | Promoted Corporal, 2nd/2nd Machine Gun Battalion, (acting); rank confirmed 15 May 1941 | |
| 14 Feb 1942: | Promoted Sergeant, 2nd/2nd Machine Gun Battalion, after being appointed Lance Sergeant 15 Jan 1942 | |
| 30 Sep 1942: | Imprisoned reported missing in action 27 Jul 1942; reported POW 30 Sep 1942; interned at various camps | |
| 14 Jun 1945: | Embarked from UK to Australia; disembarked Sydney 24 Jul 1945 | |
| 21 Sep 1945: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Sergeant, QX8099, 2nd/2nd Machine Gun Battalion | |
| 21 Sep 1945: | Discharged |
Help us honour Hugh Francis Quinn's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Cherilyn McMeekin
Hugh was the eldest of three sons born to Francis and Nora QUINN. All three sons enlisted in WWII - Hugh was the first to do so, in May 1940, aged 22.
Before his embarkation, Hugh completed a course in rangetaking in Cowra NSW, classified Rangetaker T.S. III in Nov 1940. Rangetakers operate the rangefinder as part of a machinegun battalion; in Hugh's case, the 2nd Machine Gun Battalion.
While in Palestine, Hugh attended an AIF Weapon Training School in Feb 1941, with the rank of Corporal confirmed soon after. By Feb 1942, he had been promoted to Sergeant.
Hugh was a POW on board the Italian transport ship Nino Bixio when it was torpedoed by a British submarine in the Mediterranean on 17 August 1942. The Nino Bixio was transporting Allied POWs from Libya to Italy. He was one of the 122 Australian POWs to survive the incident.
Hugh returned to Queensland, and married Margaret GARVEY. He died in 1983, aged 65. Margaret died in 2007, aged 88.