NORTON KNIGHT, Gerald Osborne
| Service Number: | NX53869 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 9 July 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Lance Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 103 aka 3 Anti Tank / Tank Attack Regiment |
| Born: | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 4 January 1913 |
| Home Town: | Bowral, Wingecarribee, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Pastoral overseer |
| Died: | Harden, New South Wales, Australia , 4 January 1965, aged 52 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 9 Jul 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Lance Sergeant, NX53869, 103 aka 3 Anti Tank / Tank Attack Regiment | |
|---|---|---|
| 14 Nov 1940: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Gunner, 2nd/3rd Anti Tank / Tank Attack Regiment, embarked from Sydney to Haifa, Israel | |
| 30 Aug 1941: | Promoted Lance Bombardier, 2nd/3rd Anti Tank / Tank Attack Regiment, appointed L/Bdr, 3rd Anti Tank Regiment | |
| 12 Dec 1941: | Promoted Bombardier, 2nd/3rd Anti Tank / Tank Attack Regiment | |
| 16 May 1942: | Promoted Lance Sergeant, 2nd/3rd Anti Tank / Tank Attack Regiment, appointed L/Sgt, then promoted to A/Sgt 20 Jul 1942; reverted to Bombardier and then appointed L/Sgt 25 Jul 1942 | |
| 30 Sep 1942: | Imprisoned Middle East / Mediterranean Theatre, reported missing in action 27 Jul 1942 believed POW; officially reported POW 30 Sep 1942, no camp stated; arrived UK from western Europe c1945; embarked from UK to Sydney 18 Jun 1945 | |
| 11 Sep 1945: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Lance Sergeant, NX53869, 103 aka 3 Anti Tank / Tank Attack Regiment |
Help us honour Gerald Osborne Norton Knight's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Cherilyn McMeekin
Gerald was the second of four sons born to Arthur Gerald NORTON-KNIGHT and Mary Broughton OSBORNE. Arthur and Mary married in London in 1909, and event that was newsworthy enough to be published in an article in an Australian newspaper.
Gerald married in 1935 in Walgett NSW to Hazel FRANCISCO (reg. 17718). Sadly, she died in 1936.
Gerald and two of his brothers enlisted in Paddington NSW on the same day - 9 Jul 1940. All three entered service as troopers in the 3rd Anti-Tank Regiment and all embarked overseas.
Their father Arthur died in the Berrima District Hospital in Dec 1940. Mary must have despaired when her youngest son Henry enlisted as well, in Jan 1942.
The war was particularly cruel to this family. The three eldest brothers became POWs in 1942. All three were aboard the Italian transport ship Nino Bixio when it was torpedoed by a British submarine in the Mediterranean on 17 Aug 1942. The Nino Bixio was transporting Allied POWs from Libya to Italy.
Gerald and his brother Malcolm were two of the 122 Australian POWs to survive the incident. The eldest Osborne died of his wounds. Only four months later, the youngest, Henry, died of his wounds in New Guinea on New Year's Day, 1943.
Not long after his return home, Gerald married his late brother Osborne's widow, Mary Westropp CAREY, in Feb 1946. Gerald died in 1965; his resting place is not known. Mary, known as Molly, lived until 1990.