Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Charles Johnson Rowland was born in the Middle Irwin area, on June 20th 1885 (Birth Registration: 26361/1885). His parents were Michael Johnson Rowland and Rebecca Rowland.

He went to school in Irwin.

In 1908, Charles (now aged 23 years) is listed as a 'Farm Labourer' in Dongara. He had never married.

Charles enlisted when he was aged 30, as a Private with a Regimental number of 3989, on August 13th 1915. He was 6 foot ¾ inches high, weighed 165 lbs, and had hazel eyes and brown hair. He listed Methodist as his religion and his father, Michael Johnson Rowland as his next if kin.

Charles departed for France on the HMAT Ajana (ship A31) from Fremantle, on 22nd December 1915 as a member of the 16th Infantry Battalion, 12th Re-enforcements. He was aged 30 and a Private. Western Australia provided 32,231 troops to the Australian Expeditionary Forces, all of whom had volunteered for service. Western Australia's contribution comprised nearly 10 per cent of its population, or more than a third of all the men in the State between the ages of eighteen and forty-four. Charles' father, Michael Johnson Rowland died while Charles was at sea.

Charles was allotted to the 48th Battalion in Zietoun, Egypt, on the 9th March 1916. He then proceeded to join the British Expeditionary Force from Alexandria and embarked on the H.M.T. Caledonia from Alexandria. He disembarked at Marseilles. Charles was wounded in Action in France on the 19th August 1916. He was wounded by a shell in the left knee. The metal was removed the next day. He was embarked for England, from Calais, on the 23rd August 1916. He then went to a Leeds Hospital then another hospital in Weymouth where his wounds healed. Following leave, he proceeded back to France via the S.S. “Princess Clementina” on the 1st February 1917. He left from Folkestone and re-joined the 48th Battalion.

Two months later, Charles Johnson Rowland was Killed in Action (KIA), in France, on April 10th 1917 while serving with the 48th Battalion AIF. The 48th Battalion had been raised in Egypt on 16 March 1916 as part of the "doubling" of the AIF. Roughly half of its new recruits were Gallipoli veterans from the 16th Battalion, and the other half, fresh reinforcements from Australia. Reflecting the composition of the 16th, the men of the new battalion hailed mainly from regional South Australia and Western Australia. The new battalion formed part of the 12th Brigade of the 4th Australian Division.

Charles Johnson Rowland (the last child of Michael and Rebecca Rowland ) was aged thirty two when he was killed. His actual grave site seems to have been unknown for a while and his brother Frank Rowland vainly tried to find the details from the Army, during 1920. By 1922 the remains, or a registered grave, could not be located and Frank was informed that “the Graves Services have not succeeded in locating his resting place”.

​ Charles's sacrifice is commemorated in 26 Villers Bretonneux, France, and at the Australian War Memorial, in Canberra.