Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Kevin thomas mcauliffe lived in KATANNING, at 15 his first job was washing machine parts before working at western family stores selling shoes (beside KATANNING old flour mill, now the dome cafe/hotel)
He signed up at 19 against family wishes and found himself in the 2/28th and landed over in North Africa defending Tobruk and El Alamein where he saw combat in the desert with the Italians and Rommel’s tanks and infantry.
The tanks over ran his position and taken prisoner. They said hider hok for you zee war is over.
He was taken to a North African port and put on the nino bixio ship with other prisoners and sailed for brindisi port in south Italy.
His ship was torpedoed twice by a British submarine but didn’t sink, he was injured but got topside, others didn’t and were killed.
They arrived in Italy and were marched through the streets and spat on until they arrived in spital am semmering in Austria where he was in a working prison camp.
He spent three years there are they were forced into logging each day by the Germans. He escaped with a mate and hid in the snow for a few weeks being helped by a local ted kruipker with food whilst the Germans hunted them. Kevin promised to help ted after the war for the help if he could. He repaid the debt and got Ted a job at pages brick yard in KATANNING after the war. Ted now lives in south Australia with his family.
Kevin met up with the Russians who handed him over to the Americans as the Germans retreated. He says the Russians were mad on vodka.
Whilst with the yanks they crashed a Jeep and he found himself in an English hospital and then the war ended.
He returned to Australia and to KATANNING and back to his old job.
He always had a side job of cutting wood on farms after the farmers knocked over the trees to expand their paddocks, he sold the wood to pages brick yard and around town. He also raised poultry and sold them also to earn extra coin.
He married a local, Irene Rodwell and had three kids. Gary, Sheryl and terry.
He wrote his life story and Judith stanich a local author made 4 copies and its like a film script, he was lucky to have lived to tell the tale of the sun bronzed Anzac.
The book has not been published, it’s a family gift from Kevin, maybe one day as he was not one to talk about all his experiences, but his memoirs are a great read.
He died at aged 74 in KATANNING hospital from a stroke.
He was a good father, honest and strong and a man who kept his word. He loved KATANNING and liked the simple life after the war. He was a true rat of Tobruk