This is the story of Lawrence McEvoy.

The Rats of Tobruk are known for their endurance and tenacity. Lawrence Henry McEvoy can add the quality of inventiveness to those virtues. For he was only 16 when he enlisted for war service; he kept quiet about his actual age. Nicknamed Bill by an uncle – the name stuck throughout his life – he eventually became president of the Rats of Tobruk Association.

Lawrence’s story was collected as part of a oral history community project called World War II in Words where South Australian World War Two veterans shared their stories in their own words.