Victor Charles Lowe

Victor Charles Lowe

Personal Information
Date of Birth	c1913
Place of Birth	Victoria
Death	8 Sep 1942
Place of Death	Mission Ridge, Kokoda Track, Papua
Age at Enlistment	27 years, 1 month
Occupation	Blacksmith
Religion	Church of England
Address	Armadale, Western Australia
Next of Kin	Wife , Mrs Nellie Hilda Lowe
Military Information
Reg Number	WX3888
Date of Enlistment	1 Jun 1940
Rank	Lance Corporal
Unit/Formation	2nd/16th Australian Infantry Battalion
Date of Embarkation	26 Oct 1940 ‒ 25 Nov 1940
Ship Embarked On	HMT Aquitania Fremantle to Egypt
Date of Embarkation	6 Aug 1942 ‒ 13 Aug 1942
Ship Embarked On	SS James Fenimore Cooper Brisbane to Port Moresby
Date of Return	29 Jan 1942 ‒ 18 Mar 1942
Ship Returned On	SS Île de France Egypt to Fremantle
Medals	1939-45 Star Africa Star Pacific Star War Medal 1939-45 Australian Service Medal 1939-45

War Service

Enlisted on 1 Jun 1940 and was sent to the Northam camp, where he was granted leave without pay from 1 - 17 Jun 1940 inclusive, after which he reported to the 2/16 Battalion. He was granted convalescent leave from 19 - 24 Jul 1940, and pre-embarkation leave from 27 Sep until 4 Oct 1940. No other details of his early training are in his records.

On 25 Oct 1940 the battalion embarked in Fremantle on HMT Aquitania for Egypt where they disembarked on 25 Nov 1940 and moved to Palestine to complete their training. Their initial role was to bolster the defences along the Libya-Egypt border against an expected German attack. Transferred to Palestine, the 2/16 Battalion participated in an attack on well entrenched Vichy French positions on 8 Jun 1941. They took heavier casualties than any other Australian unit (264), and remained after the local Armistice as part of the garrison force. On 31 Jul 1941 Victor was evacuated to the 1st Australian General Hospital with an infection, passed to the 7th Australian General Hospital on 1 Aug 1941 and he was released to the 21st Australian Infantry training Battalion on 5 Aug 1941, and to his unit on 15 Aug 1941. On 8 Sep 1941 he was charged with conduct to the prejudice of good order and Military discipline, and was awarded 3 days Confined to Barracks.

The battalion embarked on SS Île de France on 29 Jan 1942 and sailed next day for Adelaide, via Perth. Along with more than 350 others he disembarked in Perth and was AWOL from 1:00pm on 18 Mar until 9:30 am on 23 Mar 1942. Penalty was a fine of £5 and loss of 5 days pay. On 28 Mar 1942 he embarked on the USAT Monterey for Adelaide where he disembarked on 31 Mar 1942. The battalion relocated to Queensland for some Jungle training and on 6 Aug 1942 embarked in Brisbane on the SS James Fenimore Cooper for Port Moresby, disembarking on 13 Aug 1942. Quickly pushed into action to help stop the Japanese attack up the Kokoda Track, they saw action for he first time in Papua on 29 Aug 1942 at Abuari.

Forced to withdraw, the 2/16th fought a series of desperate actions back along the Trail. It suffered particularly heavily at Mission Ridge on 8 September when it had to fight its way out of a Japanese encirclement. Victor was posted as missing after they extracted themselves from Mission Ridge, and on 21 Oct 1942 this was changed to Killed in Action on 8 Sep 1942 at Brigade Hill.

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  Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery
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  Victor's gravesite