Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From François Berthout, 

Pte Carl Lowe, 12th Battalion, AIF
 
Today, on the old battlefields of the Somme, still march through the poppies, in silence, a generation of men who were heroes and who, with devotion and bravery, served their country for which they fought with determination and perseverance, they fought side by side on these lands of France, in the mud of the trenches in which, united, they gave their youth and their courage in the name of freedom, justice and peace.They did their duty with honor and loyalty under what was an endless nightmare, under bullets and shells, they all showed exceptional courage and under machine gun fire, they shed their blood on these lands of France for which they did and gave so much.Unfortunately, many of these young boys who, in the war, became men, have no known graves but will never be forgotten, their names and their memories, their stories will be remembered and maintained with love but also with the highest respect so that forever, they can continue to live and today,it is the memory of one of these young boys, one of my boys of the Somme whom I would like to honor with gratitude, I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Private number 5740 Carl Lowe who fought in the 12th Australian Infantry Battalion and who was killed in action 104 years ago, on February 26, 1917 at the age of 24 on the Somme front.

Carl Lowe was born in 1894 in Mathinna, Tasmania, and was the son of George and Annie Lowe, of Mathinna.Carl was educated at the Mathinna State School and before the outbreak of the war he worked as a miner.
Enlisted on March 15, 1916 at Claremont, Tasmania, in the 12th Australian Infantry Battalion, 18th Reinforcement, he embarked with his unit from Hobart, Tasmania, on board HMAT A49 seang Choon on May 8, 1916 and sailed for England where he arrived on September 29 and was sent to Perham Down to receive his training.Conveniently situated a mile from Ludgershall station, Perham Down was initially used at the outbreak of war by some of the new Kitchener battalions. In 1916 Australia’s No.1 Command Depot was established at Perham Down, accommodating 4,000 men.After a short period of training, Carl was sent to France where he was disembarked at Etaples and transferred to the 51st Australian Infantry Battalion before joining the Somme front.On November 5, 1916, while on active service, he was charged with drunkenness and was sent to prison for a period of 14 days and was subsequently, on November 29, 1916, transferred back to the 12th Australian Infantry Battalion and was sent back to the front line on December 2.

On January 4, 1917, he was charged and sent once again to prison for a period of 168 hours for "conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline absenting himself without leave from a working party".After this unfortunate event, Carl was sent back to the front line on the Somme front where he fought with great courage but unfortunately it was in the Somme, that a month later,on February 26,1917, in the Le Barque sector, in an assault aiming the capture of a German trench called the "Malt Trench" that Carl was killed in action, he was 24 years old.

Sadly, after furious fighting, Carl Lowe's body was never found but today he is remembered and honored with the highest respect at the Australian National Memorial in Villers-Bretonneux, Somme, where his name is inscribed alongside those of 11,000 Australian soldiers who fell in France and in the Somme and who have no known graves.

Carl, you who rest in peace under the poppy fields and who alongside your comrades are waiting to be found, I would like today, from the bottom of my heart and with gratitude, to say thank you, for all that you have done for my country which, thanks to you, under the peaceful sun, knows the peace for which you fought and for which you fell.Came from Australia, your homeland, you have, without hesitation and with determination, answered the call of duty and joined your friends, your comrades, the ranks of free and united men under the banner of humanity who, bound by the feeling of serving for just and noble causes, walked with their heads held high and pride in their hearts to do their duty for their country, for peace and freedom, for justice, they joined their brothers in arms on the grounds of France which, like them, under the same uniform, for the same causes, walked with an invincible ardor through the chaotic roads and the fields of poppies which, soon, would be nothing more than fields of death and destruction scarified by kilometers of trenches and barbed wire under the fire of cannons and machine guns which were going to mow down a whole generation of men in courageous and murderous assaults.United in a very strong bond of camaraderie, they faced death raining around them under storms of shells that pulverized everything in volcanoes of flame and powder in an atmosphere of fury and fear.Their heads bowed under their helmets steel and sandbags, with trembling legs, they lived in an endless hell, without respite, fighting against fatigue, rats and lice, they saw and felt death near them, in an ocean of mud that was the no man's land on which, lying for eternity, their friends who fell before them in baths of blood and steel.They knew that, a few hours later, it would be their turn to go over the top, over the parapet and to face the machine-guns gone mad which would spit rain of bullets and lead on them.Despite the horrors they saw and went through, they kept their faith in better days and also kept their sense of humor, a humor and a bravery that many, like their French brothers in arms admired and which brought our two countries closer together in an indestructible friendship that was born in the hell of the trenches.Brave among the bravest, their courage never failed, they fought with admirable bravery for every meter of land, for every trenches and positions at the cost of terrible losses, they never retreated and were always in the front line, in the mud and the cold, under the thunder and the roaring of cannons awaiting the whistle of their officers, their fingers clenched on their rifles, fixing their bayonets, ready to do their duty, their hearts beating to the rhythm of the drums, they came out of the trenches and walked towards their fates, bullets raining around them, they saw their comrades, their brothers who fell in the mud turned red, beyond their limits, in a last burst of courage, they fell while they were in the prime of their lives, they gave their today and their lives for our tomorrow and many did not have the chance to be found but here, on these lands of France which is today their country, they rest in peace and became our sons who,even if they have no known graves, they will never be forgotten, their names will always be remembered and honored with respect and gratitude, they have and always will have a very great place in our hearts and a place of honor in the Somme for which these heroes did so much, their memory, like the poppies that grow on the battlefields, will never cease to live and will always be in the light and love of our hearts and thoughts. Thank you Carl, for everything, you will never be forgotten.They shall not grow old,as we that are left grow old;age shall not weary them,nor the years condemn.At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him,we will remember them.