1450
ROWEN, Joseph Patrick
| Service Number: | 3744 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 27 July 1915, Adelaide South Australia Australia |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 12th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Clare South Australia Australia, date not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | North Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Natural Causes, Broken Hill New South Wales Australia, 3 March 1952, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 27 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Adelaide South Australia Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Dec 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 3744, 12th Infantry Battalion | |
| 2 Dec 1915: |
Involvement
AIF WW1, Private, 3744, 12th Infantry Battalion, embarkation_roll: roll_number: 10 embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: RMS Malwa embarkation_ship_number: public_note: 2 Dec 1915 |
|
| 11 Nov 1918: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 3744 | |
| 18 Oct 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1 | |
| Date unknown: | Involvement AIF WW1, 3744, 4th Pioneer Battalion | |
| Date unknown: | Wounded 3744, 4th Pioneer Battalion |
"An Accidental Soldier" - Private Joseph 'Joe' Rowen
The story of Private Joe Rowen as told by Alice O'Connell reveals a side to military service that is not generally discussed.
His story is analogous to a recent movie about a British soldier in similar circumstances "The Accidental Soldier" although without as far as can be determined, without any specific personal interest.
Joe Rowen's conduct record is a litany of Absence Without Leave and hospitalisation due to venereal disease. Hardly a distinguished record in a military sense.
However, he was not alone.
To many Australian soldiers who had volunteered to fight in a far off land, the reality of their situation was such that many saw the prospect of an imminent and violent death or severe wounding as reason enough to seize whatever opportunities presented themselves to 'live life to the full', even if that meant breaking a few rules.
AWL was rampant among the AIF but soldiers tended to hand themselves in after a few days carousing.
Venereal Disease was an enormous problem logistically, because of the resources it tied up. An entire Australian Hospital was established to deal with it. Morally, it was a serious stigma at the time but in the context of the circumstances the men found themselves in it was perhaps hardly surprising. Many were very young and not particularly worldly; large numbers came from the country and for whom their entire experience subsequent to enlistment would have been a blur of new experience. They would have been confronted with the reality of their mortality and imminent demise in the most brutal way once in combat – even on the approach to it. In fact the acclaimed author, Patsy Adam-Smith made particular mention of this facet of the experiences of young Australian men in her landmark book “ANZACS” published in 1978. So it remains a fact of history that many chose to find comfort in the 'pleasures of the flesh' irrespective of the consequences, a course of action that would be denied them in the high probability of death or wounding.
In Joe Rowen's case, the period of absence and the nature of it was classified twice as 'desertion'. That is about as much trouble as a soldier can be in. The British, indeed every other Commonwealth Army, and the French, imposed a death sentence for this crime - execution by firing squad. See the side bar “Shot at Dawn”.
Because Australia's Army was unique in that it was a volunteer citizen force, rather than a conscripted one, the Australian government of the day refused to sanction the execution of soldiers thus convicted. This attitude was also linked to national outrage around the execution of two Australian Officers, Harry "The Breaker" Morant and Peter Hancock during the Boer War for a reprisal killing, immortalised in the 1979 movie “Breaker Morant”.
The issue, and whether or not all such charges should be granted retrospective pardons, is still widely discussed in the UK. They remain a fact of history and a function of the time when they occurred. A link in the sidebar refers to this discussion. It makes the point that no Australian (or American) soldier was executed in WW1.
Submitted 7 January 2014 by Steve Larkins
Biography
Born in Clare in approximately March 1893, Joseph Rowen was the son of Mrs Harriet Rowen of 12 Barnard Street North Adelaide at the time of his enlistment into the AIF in mid 1915.
Extract from NAA service record
PTE Joseph Rowen embarked on the HMAT Malwa on 2 Dec 1915, Initially assigned to the 12th Reinforcements of the 3rd Brigade, comprising the 9th (Qld) 10th (SA) 11th (WA) and 12th (Tas) Battalions. The arrival of the "Malwa" coincided with the "doubling" of the AIF after its extraction from Gallipoli. On arrival in Egypt he was initially taken on strength by the 12th Battalion in March 1916 but was quickly re-assigned to the 4th Pioneer Battalion, in the 4th Brigade in the newly raised 4th Division, before they embarked for Marseilles and the Western Front. in April 1916.
Shortly afterwards began a pattern of Absence WIthout Leave (AWOL or AWL) that was to characterise the balance of his service.
He was listed as Missing in Action on 9 August 1916 which coincides with the fighting at Pozieres and Mouquet Farm, during the course of which the Australian 1st 2nd and 4th Division suffered horrific casualties. However it later became apparent that he had again absented himself without leave and his record was amended to reflect this.
He was apprehended in Paris by the Military Police on what appeared to be about the 22nd August. He was then briefly transferred to the 49th Battalion in September 1916, before re-assignment back to the 4th Pioneers in October. During this period the 4th Pioneers returned from Belgium to the Somme near Flers during what as to become the worst winterin living memory.
The fact that he was apprehended so far from the Front Line would have serious consequences. This set in train a chain of events that culminated in his Court Martial for desertion (which at the time in the British Army was a capital offence) and imprisonment with a sentence of 10 years penal servitude. He was held in custody while awaiting trial and then a review of the case ordered by the GOC 4th Army (General Rawlinson) resulted in the suspension of the sentence.
He spent time in hospital in the UK initially for a sprained ankle in May June 1917 and was returned to his unit under escort indicating he was thought to be a risk of going AWL again. Later in the year he was again admitted this time with venereal disease at Bulford. At the end of this period (12 October 1917) he was once again declared an illegal absentee between October and 18 December 1917.
He was awarded 60 days detention in early 1918 served at Lewes detention Barracks in the UK after which he was assigned to the Overseas Training Battalion at Sandhill and deployment to France in early April where he was immediately subject to 10 days Field Punishment No 2 for an absence prior to embarkation.
Repeated absences resulted, culminating in nearly a month AWL in June of 1918 resulted in a further General Court Martial in July of 1918, the result of which was a sentence of penal servitude for life (NAA record) confirmed by GOC 4th Division Maj Gen Sinclair-McLagan, subsequently commuted to 10 years.
He was returned to Australia on the HMAT Euripides and discharged on the 18th October 1919 (this date was amended to reflect the disciplinary nature of his discharge prior to all administrative procedures being finalised (12 November 1919). It appears that he was discharged without serving the unexpired portion of his sentence under a general amnesty, although this is unclear. There is no accompanying documentation that provides insight to this.
Address on discharge 109 Ryan Lane, Railway Town, Broken Hill.
The circumstances of his service resulted in his being non eligible for war service medals and for inclusion on memorials.
John Rowen went on the become a well known identity in the Broken Hill District in later life, where he ran a cafe (behind which the odd game of two-up was thought to have been conducted) and became a member of the RSL.
Click images to start slideshow.