Acting Staff Sergeant Rolstyn Nicholas Tonkin

VX37081 Sergeant Rolstyn Nicholas Tonkin became a prisoner of war following the capitulation of Allied Forces on Crete in May 1941 and was taken to Stalag XIIIC at Hammelburg in North Bavaria. He arrived there in August and worked in the Administration Office keeping records on the POWs and providing information to the Red Cross in Geneva. Tonkin was recruited by a British Army Chaplain, Captain John King, to become part of an intelligence cell formed within the camp and communicate relevant information in code, to the Military Intelligence War Office in London, for which he was awarded a MID [Mentioned in Despatches].

After Stalag XIIIC was liberated in April 1945, Tonkin found his way to England and returned to Australia in May. He was discharged from the Australian Army in July.