PURCELL, Oliver Lawrence
| Service Number: | NX21500 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 27 May 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/13th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia, 30 January 1915 |
| Home Town: | Sydney, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Gardener |
| Died: | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 22 July 1985, aged 70 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Rookwood Cemeteries & Crematorium, New South Wales |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 27 May 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, NX21500, 13th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 27 May 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, NX21500, 2nd/13th Infantry Battalion | |
| 24 Jun 1943: | Honoured Mention in Dispatches, London Gazette 24 June 1943 Commonwealth of Australia Gazette - 16 March 1944 | |
| 1 Nov 1945: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, NX21500, 13th Infantry Battalion | |
| 1 Nov 1945: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, NX21500, 2nd/13th Infantry Battalion | |
| Date unknown: | Involvement Private, NX21500, 13th Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour Oliver Lawrence Purcell's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Oliver was the youngest of five children of Michael John Purcell (born 1867 in Wagga Wagga, NSW) and Margaret Alice Cox (born 1872 in Tarcutta, NSW). Michael was a Labourer in 1903 when he married Margaret in Wagga Wagga, NSW, where they raised their family.
Oliver had worked as a Motor Painter in Wagga Wagga before moving to Sydney, where he was a Gardener at the Domremy Convent in Five Dock when he enlisted in the Australian Army in May 1945. He served as a Private (Service No:NX21500) and was attached to 2/13 Infantry Battalion when he was Discharged in November 1945. Brother Matthew (Snowy) Purcell (Private, Service No:NX36170) was a PoW and died on the Burma Railway in 1943.
In 1940 Oliver married Leila Adelina Keyte (born 1911 in Sydney, NSW) and following the War, Oliver and Leila settled in Sydney, NSW where Oliver worked as a Postal Employee and Labourer. He died in 1985 and Leila died in 2004.