PAYNE, Charles David Ellis
| Service Number: | QX3232 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 25 May 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 1st Royal Australian Engineers Training Battalion |
| Born: | Fernmount, New South Wales, Australia, 17 September 1910 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | labourer |
| Died: | Biggenden, Queensland, Australia, 26 January 2004, aged 93 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Degilbo Cemetery, Queensland also Queensland Garden of Remembrance, Brisbane |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
Biography contributed by Cherilyn McMeekin
Charles, known by his second given name David (Dave), was the fifth of nine children born to Rudolph Charles PAYNE and Grace Ann ELLIS. The family were from New South Wales and had property in South Grafton.
All four of his brothers enlisted, three in Queensland (like Dave), and one in NSW.
Dave spent some time on sick leave soon after his enlistment in May 1940, before finally embarking for the Middle East in Nov 1940.
He was reported missing in action 27 Jul 1942, and officially reported a POW on 30 Sep 1942. Dave was a POW on board 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. Dave was one of the 122 Australian POWs to survive the incident.
He was interned in various camps before escaping to Switzerland. Little is known of his escape or subsequent internment. He finally made it home to Australia in Nov 1944.
Dave married Edna WALLIS in Brisbane in 1948 (reg. B/19255). He died in 2004 aged 93.