99269
ROWE, Harold Theodore
| Service Number: | 6423 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 16 September 1915, at Adelaide |
| Last Rank: | Sapper |
| Last Unit: | 1st to 5th Divisional Signal Companies |
| Born: | Lower Light, South Australia , 5 September 1890 |
| Home Town: | Prospect, Prospect, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Nailsworth Public School, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Carpenter |
| Died: | Tuberculosis, Adelaide, South Australia , 7 November 1919, aged 29 years |
| Cemetery: |
North Road Cemetery, Nailsworth, South Australia Plot 5754, Path 27 South |
| Memorials: | Prospect Roll of Honour G-Z WWI Board |
World War 1 Service
| 16 Sep 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Sapper, 6423, 3rd Field Company Engineers, at Adelaide | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Mar 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Sapper, 6423, 3rd Field Company Engineers, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '5' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Armadale embarkation_ship_number: A26 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Mar 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Sapper, 6423, 3rd Field Company Engineers, HMAT Armadale, Sydney | |
| 11 Nov 1918: | Involvement AIF WW1, Sapper, 6423, 1st to 5th Divisional Signal Companies |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Robert Kearney
DELAYED RECOGNITION : HAROLD THEODORE ROWE
After extensive research, and over 100 years after his death, the Office of Australian War Graves has recognised Harold Theodore Rowe as a victim of the Great War, after he died of Tuberculosis three months after he was discharged from the AIF.
Harold was the first of four children born to Francis Henry Rowe and his wife Fanny Antonella Penfold. Born in Lower Light on 5 September 1890, he had just turned 25 when he enlisted on 16 September 1916.
Rowe served in France from July 1916 to March 1919, and during this time his only documented illness was two hospital admissions with tonsillitis, the second being just two weeks before his departure for Australia.
Upon return to Australia, Rowe was examined by a medical board, as was routine for all returning servicemen. His discharge papers stated “No Disability, Quite Well, Fit for Duty”, and he was discharged T.P.E. (Term of Posting Expired) on 14 August 1919.
However, Rowe was not “quite well”, and died less than 3 months later of Pulmonary Tuberculosis. This illness had been contracted while serving in France, and not diagnosed on his exit medical examination.
The following link to an interesting article from the Sydney Morning Herald in 1919, explains how many returning servicemen’s illnesses and disabilities were not recognised on final medical examinations in the haste to remove soldiers from the A.I.F. payroll.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28098476#
Harold Theodore Rowe died on 7 November 1919 aged 29. He is buried in the family plot in Path 27 South.
Upon our recent application, his death was recognised as being caused by his overseas service, and he has now been added to the official “War Dead” list. - Courtesy of North Road Cemetery
Click images to start slideshow.