Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Born in Port Adelaide on the 7th January, 1905, Frank was the fourth son of five children born to Hannah Ruth and Robert Ernest (Bert) Lowe. His siblings were Ira Gordon, Claude Lancelot and Arnold Gladstone with a young sister Vera Cannell. Bert and Hannah had met at Kaniva before farming at Sandmere, Noarlunga, Edwardstown, Pyap West and Snowtown.
Frank had just turned twelve when his 24-year-old brother, Ira, a builder, enlisted to serve in the Great War on the 24th May 1917. Given the number 3868, Ira served with the 10/5th Pioneers in England and France before he was discharged in November 1919. By the time Frank was sixteen, his father had relinquished farming and set up business at Welland where he became particularly active in the West Hindmarsh Methodist Church. There he undertook the role of a lay preacher, often travelling considerable distances in this capacity. Unfortunately, in April ’28 Bert, a carrier at the time, was driving his horse and trolly on North Terrace when it collided with a brewery lorry. Bert was thrown from his seat and sustained cuts to his foot and more seriously, head injuries causing him to be taken to the Adelaide Hospital. He did not fully recover from this accident but continued to be passionate about his calling as a lay preacher.
Frank worked as a linesman but also leased 1,329 acres of land near Cummins in the Hundred of Varran as a 24-year-old. He was 26 when his 65-year-old father died in December ’31. It was reported that as he was passing away he looked at Hannah and whispered, "Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me." He was buried in the Cheltenham Cemetery with this verse engraved on his headstone.
With the outbreak of WWII, 40-year-old Frank followed the example set by his older brother, Ira and volunteered to serve on the 15th July ’41. He was given the number SX13701 and initially allocated to the 2/10th Battalion reinforcements. He and other new enlistees undertook training at Woodside in the Adelaide Hills but in the cold conditions, Frank contracted an upper respiratory tract infection. By September he was then allocated to the 2/48th Battalion and headed to the Middle East, arriving on the 20th October ’41. Almost immediately he was placed in the 26th Infantry Trig Battalion for almost a month of training.
In the less than sanitary conditions experienced in the desert conditions, by July the following year Frank had contracted scabies, and had been reinfected from numerous insect bites. By the time he returned to his battalion, Frank was facing one of the most intense periods of the war. He was wounded in the right shoulder in the fierce fighting which began at the end of October ’42 and into November when he was wounded on the 2nd.
The 2/48th Battalion were exposed to ever-changing conditions and the fighting continuous. The Battalion had prepared for the second battle of El Alamein which began on October 23rd. That month, Mongomery had ordered the 9th Battalion to attack northward. This included an all-out attack on the strategically positioned Trig 29. The evening was described by John Glenn in ‘Tobruk to Tarakan’ as ‘an occasional burst from a machine gun disturbed the night of 24th October. Nevertheless, it was a busy time for the tired men. Little or no sleep could be had. A hot meal sent forward after dark was quickly swallowed. There was no time for yarning. Defences had to be improved, more digging and wiring done, and patrols sent out.’ He later added that ‘the 2/48th had stirred up a real hornets’ nest.’ On that night alone 9 of the Battalion were killed and 20 wounded in action. Of these 16 were from South Australia and the remainder from Western Australia. Glenn explains they were ‘running into particularly stiff opposition to the west of the Trig point. It was only after hard fighting, with heavy casualties on both sides, that they were able to consolidate on their objective. Gradually the platoon, small in number to start with, was being whittled away and those remaining were being forced to go to ground.’ He added ‘At last light on the same front some three hundred enemy troops attacked, and D Company area was swept by small arms fire.’ Frank survived but sustained gunshot wounds to his right shoulder and continued to receive treatment for his arm before he was able to return to his battalion in mid-December.
Jack Ralla, who had also been injured with Frank, kept a detailed diary of that time. Like Frank, he had also been wounded, but in the leg and unable to stand. In Tobruk to Tarakan he described how his ‘left leg was at right angles to my body and blood was gushing from a wound in my groin. Wally Fennell came back holding the side of his head. Sergeant Derrick had been hit, and as he moved away he said he would send the bearers.’ Jack’s ambulance was bombed on his way to hospital. He added ‘Back in hospital I ran into a lot of my mates; Tommy Loveday, Mick Salter, Scotty Patton, Jack Digan, Keith Freeman, Bert Skinner, Frank Lowe and Bob Cattermole.’
Diver Derrick also kept a diary, meticulously edited by Mark Johnson in ‘Derrick VC In his Own Words’ with an entry on the 14th October ’42 listing those in his 8 Platoon A Company. He lists Frank as being wounded in action on the 14th July ’42 and back with the group on the 20th which may have been when Frank was being treated for scabies and infected insect bites, rather than recovering from a war injury.
Back home the November issue of the Chronicle carried an extensive list of the cost to the soldiers involved in Frank’s battalion. SX11130 Pte. Ernest W S. Moore from Nth. Kensington and SX13756 Pte. Edward G. Davis, from Salisbury were killed in action. SX8096 A-Cpl. Henry D. Laughton, from King's Park was listed as Dangerously Wounded. Many others were listed as wounded in action including SX10316 Mjr. Geoffrey S. Edmunds, Toorak; SX9064 Lt. Hugh F. Treloar, Adelaide; SX8402 Pte. Arnold R. Dolan, Renmark; SX6910 Pte. Hoard Major, Woodville; SX6832 Pte. Walter J. Fennell, Berri; SX13701 Pte. Frank M. Lowe, Whyalla; SX7609 Pte. Colin H. Rickard, Penola; SX7411 Pte. Walter H. J. Hay, Murray Bridge; SX7122 Pte. Percival G. Bartholomew, Narrung; SX11828 Pte. Roy H. Winter, Thebarton; SX7242 Pte. P. A. Pfeiffer, Berri; SX7130 Pte. Eric A. Goold, Salisbury; SX6829 L-Cpl. Clement R. P. Billing, Pinnaroo; SX10501 Pte. Hedley K. Bonython, Burnside; SX7591 Cpl. Jack S. Bowers, Unley; SX7666 Pte. Eric J. Chuck, Kalangadoo; SX8810 Pte. Havard (Howard) R. Crabb, Whyalla; SX13683 Pte. Sydney L. Farrell Broken Hill: SX7657 Pte. Myers A. Geraghy, Pt . Macdonnell; SX7266 Sgt. Neil Gilchrist, Balaklava; SX9376 Pte. Harold H. Gogel, Moorook; SX11131 Pte. H. N. Headon, Adelaide; SX7642 Pte Donald J. Kerin, Burra; SX8837 Pte. Edgar V. W. Lynch, Adelaide; SX9445 Pte. Lawerence H. Mickan, Cummins; SX7025 A-L/Cpl. Paul B. Morrissey King's Park; SX9530 Pte. David R. Munn, Colonel Light Gardens: SX5030 Pte. Eric R. Olds, Adelaide; SX8239 Pte. Colin R. Parsons, Minlaton; SX8904 Pte. Keith Player, Warooka; SX6915 Cpl. Glyn H. Pope, Cheltenham; SX13012 Pte. Jack Ralla, Brompton; SX7410 Cpl. Robert F. G. Ranford, Davington; SX14283 Pte. John D Seebohm, Tantanoola; SX11302 Pte. Walter Sharp, Magill; SX7206 Pte. Ronald. C. Smith, Helmsdale; SX6894 Pte. Thomas V. Trish, Mile End; SX7221 Pte. William H. Vivian, Albert Park; SX7689 Pte. John E. Wakeman, Robe; SX11160 Pte. Samuel E. Welsh, Adelaide and SX7808 Sgt, Jack K. Weston, Appila.
The Advertiser also reported that ‘Mrs. H. R. Lowe, of Croydon, has been notified that her youngest son, Pte. F. M. Lowe, has been wounded in action in Egypt. Pte. Lowe served in Palestine, Syria, and Egypt.’
Finally in March ’43 he and his fellow soldiers returned from the Middle East to Australia via Melbourne and then back to South Australia for well-earned leave.
Training in Queensland followed, in preparation for meeting a very different enemy in the tropical conditions of New Guinea. Frank left Cairns for Milne Bay, arriving in September ’43. By December, Frank had contracted malaria and then an extremely high temperature (Pyrexia of Unknown Origin), forcing him to be treated by field ambulance. A bout of Dengue fever followed in March ’44 and by June Frank returned to Australia. The extent of his service at the front was recognised with the euphemism ‘constitutional Inefficiency’ with Frank then transferred to the Returned Stores Depot in October ’44.
By March the following year Frank was fined and confined to barracks for a week for leaving parade before being relieved and for not following the unit’s routine orders. This was the first blot on his extensive service record. Frank’s tropical service dealt him one final blow with a diagnosis of hookworm and then a return of an upper respiratory tract infection. He was finally discharged on the 23rd November ’45, aged 40. In a cruel blow, his 79-year-old mother Hannah died in April ’48 in hospital. Soon after, His brother, 56-year-old Ira Gordon died on the 11th October ’49 at the Repatriation General Hospital.
Frank remained single after the war. He lived at Nailsworth until, aged 62, he died on June 30th 1967 and was buried at Centennial Park Cemetery in the Derrick Gardens Path 42 Grave 441A. The inscription on his headstone reads ‘Son of Hannah and Bert Remembered Always’.
Researched and written by Kaye Lee, daughter of Bryan Holmes SX8133, 2/48th Battalion.