Ernest Malcolm Van Dyke

In memoriam

24351 PRIVATE E. M. VANDYKE N. Z. INFANTRY 23RD AUGUST 1942 AGE 24 †

24 Infantry Battalion. Ernest was taken prisoner and transported on 16 August 1942 along with 3000 other prisoners of war from Libya (North Africa) to Brindisi in Italy crammed on board the Italian Transport Ship Nino Bixio which was an unmarked prison ship along with another transport ship the Sestriere. Ernest was wounded when the ship was attacked by torpedoes from the HMS Turbulent a day out from leaving the port of Benghazi. This attack killed an estimated 200 men and wounded another 60. Despite extensive damage the Nino did not sink and was towed by escorting destroyers to Navarino in Greece where the dead were buried. The surviving prisoners were transferred ashore and those fit enough were shipped after a short stay in Corinth to Bari in Italy. Ernest died there of his wounds as a prisoner of war.

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