Rex (1943/12/16)

In the passage through reef N end island 0.5 mile offshore

Little is known about the Rex, which was owned by Luigi Pittorino of Fremantle and was insured for £800. The value of the fish held aboard, which were lost as a result of the wrecking, was £150.
THE LOSS
The Rex left Geraldton on 25 November on a fishing expedition under the command of John Peterson of Fremantle, with a crew consisting of David Lawson from Mount Hawthorn, and Frederick Gibbon from Geraldton. After the icebox was filled the vessel headed for Fremantle. At 5.30 a.m. on either 16 December (WA, 20 December 1943) or 17 December (DN, 18 December 1943) it lost its propeller and drifted onto a reef near Lancelin Island, was wrecked and sank. The crew used the dinghy to get ashore and then walked south along the beach, going about 20 miles (32?km) before meeting a horseman from the de Burgh homestead. He took the survivors to the homestead and a message was sent from there to the police at Gingin, who came and assisted them to return to Fremantle.