BIGNELL, Harold Lionel
| Service Number: | WX2506 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 26 April 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | Australian Army Provost Corps (WW2) |
| Born: | Geraldton, Western Australia, 12 June 1911 |
| Home Town: | Wiluna, Wiluna, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Truck Driver |
| Died: | Perth, Western Australia, 20 August 1961, aged 50 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Karrakatta Cemetery & Crematorium, Western Australia |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 26 Apr 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Corporal, WX2506 | |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Aug 1940: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, WX2506, 6 Cavalry Regiment AMF, ex Sydney for Palestine | |
| 3 Nov 1940: | Promoted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Lance Corporal, Australian Army Provost Corps (WW2), Greece | |
| 26 Oct 1941: | Promoted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Corporal, Australian Army Provost Corps (WW2) | |
| 5 May 1942: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Corporal, WX2506, Australian Army Provost Corps (WW2), ex Middle East per SS Somerville – hospitalised in Colombo | |
| 26 May 1942: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Corporal, WX2506, Australian Army Provost Corps (WW2), ex Colombo per SS Andes to Fremantle | |
| 15 Dec 1943: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Corporal, WX2506, Australian Army Provost Corps (WW2) |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Corporal Harold Lionel Bignell (Service No:WX2506) enlisted in the Australian Army on 26 April 1940 and embarked as a Private ex Sydney for Palestine on 30 August 1940 with 6 Cavalry Regiment. In 1940 he was transferred to 1 Provost Coy and served in the Middle East and Greece as a Lance Corporal and Corporal. Corporal Bignell was Discharged on 15 December 1943.
Born in 1911 in Geraldton WA, Ned was the fifth of eight children of Elisha (Eli) Bignell (b1871 in Spring Gove, South Australia) and his second wife Rachel (Lena) harriet Maud Jones (b1881 in Bordertown, South Australia). Eli left Victoria in 1898 and settled in Kalgoorlie. He was a Farmer at Mt Erin, WA in 1901 when he and Lena married. They settled at Mt Erin in the mid-west of WA where they raised their family and Eli was a member of the Upper Chapman Road Board and exhibited paintings, cooking and flowers at the annual Mullewa Show.
Ned worked as a Miner in Wiluna, WA and was a Truck Driver in 1940 when he enlisted in the Army. In 1942 in Perth WA he married Florence Emily Rowe (b1905 in Perth, WA), and following his Discharge worked briefly as a Truck Driver in Wiluna before settling in Perth WA in 1949. Ned and Florence lived in Mt Hawthorn in Perth where Ned worked as a Fitter until his death in 1961. Florence died in 1972.
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