Ernest James BROUGH MM

BROUGH, Ernest James

Service Number: VX17575
Enlisted: 28 March 1940, Dandenong, Victoria
Last Rank: Sergeant
Last Unit: 2nd/32nd Infantry Battalion
Born: Drouin, Victoria, 16 February 1920
Home Town: Drouin, Baw Baw, Victoria
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Slaughterman
Memorials: Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Drouin Fire Brigade Honor Roll
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World War 2 Service

28 Mar 1940: Enlisted Private, VX17575, Dandenong, Victoria
28 Mar 1940: Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, VX17575, 2nd/32nd Infantry Battalion
13 Jul 1945: Discharged Sergeant, VX17575, 2nd/32nd Infantry Battalion
13 Jul 1945: Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, VX17575, 2nd/32nd Infantry Battalion

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Biography

"Rats of Tobruk gather in Canberra to mark 75th anniversary of WWII siege

There are only a few of the original Rats of Tobruk still alive, but many of those gathered in Canberra on Sunday to mark 75 years since the famous World War II siege. Australians proved their mettle as a fearsome fighting force during the eight-month-long battle against the Germans in 1941. Many decades on, some veterans remember details of the combat with clarity.

"I was never frightened," said veteran Ernest Brough, now 96 years old.

"That's the thing that saved me — I was never nervous."

It was Australia's first major battle of the war and the first time the Germans were defeated on land. Australian soldiers were instructed by the British to hold the critical port of Tobruk in Libya, in a bid to stop the Germans advancing into Egypt. The Germans attacked from land with artillery and tanks, as well as from the air in what was then the longest siege in modern military history.

"It was a case of keeping 'em out. Don't let 'em in, that's it. Fight for your life," Mr Brough said..." - FULL ARTICLE LINK 10 Apr 2016 ABC Online (www.abc.net.au)

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