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Born at Glencoe, near Mount Gambier in the south-east of South Australia on the 10th August 1919, Allan was the youngest son of Margaret Mary and John Dow. He had three older brothers, William James, John Alexander, and Donald Metland and a sister, Mary. John was active as President of the Glencoe West Agricultural Bureau branch and was also active in providing equipment and labour to improve the local Glencoe Public School the children attended.
Back in that era, Arbor Day was a feature of the school calendar. As an eleven-year-old, Allan watched the guest Government Horticulturist for the Southeast give a pruning demonstration before students planted a variety of trees, including a Duchess pear, Granny Smith, Wickson and Moorpark Apple trees. As a ‘senior’ student Allan was a member of the Bird and Tree Club and was one of eight students who read a paper based on various native birds, Allan’s being on the Lyre bird. His school also had innovative activities to raise much needed money for the school, including a show, where Allan won a prize for his display of a dozen brown eggs. He also continued to support the school in Back to Glencoe Celebrations as did his brothers, William, John, and Donald.
Allan was also active as a leader, being a captain with the Young People’s Guild. Plays were regularly performed, including ‘A Young Wife’s Debts’ in which Allan played the role of ‘Popper’ the grocer and John Dow the husband of the young wife in debt. Allan was also an active participant of the Glencoe Methodist Senior Bible Class and a regular attendee of Socials organised by the Ladies’ Guild. The Church Hall was also the venue to celebrate Allan’s 21st Birthday. As he entered the Hall he was greeted with the singing of ‘For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow’ and a rousing three cheers after which the National Anthem was sung. Games, items and competitions followed with Edith Dow also singing a solo. A fun ‘mystery parcel’ was organised by Mervyn Blackmore and handed to Allan. Inside was an autograph book that each guest later signed. Allan’s help in the Men’s Leadership Class was a highlight of the speeches before that group presented him with a set of brushes. A decorated cake, singing and supper concluded the celebrations.
Post school Allan was employed as a wood cutter and was also a member of the Militia from July ’40, serving as Number S6474 and earning the rank of L/Corporal by February the following year. Then with the outbreak of WWII, as a 21-year-old, he enlisted on the 25th March ’41 as SX11938. He was one of 22 new recruits from a wide range of towns in the South East who left by train from Mount Gambier for their final assessments, having already passed their medicals. Allan was allocated to the 2/48th reinforcements.
Following pre-embarkation leave, Allan was soon shipped overseas to the Middle East arriving in May ’41. Some time was spent in the Amiriya Staging Camp before he officially marched out to the 2/48th Battalion. Within a month he sustained a gunshot wound to his right shoulder.
That August ’41, fierce fighting was underway for Posts S6 and S7. As the battle progressed, the men moved to bring in their wounded, despite coming under intense machine gun fire. John Glenn in Tobruk to Tarakan recounted how ‘The days were unbearably hot. Conditions in the Salient were particularly bad, and at nights cases of heat exhaustion had to be evacuated from the forward posts. This was the fifth month of siege, and conditions were telling on the men. To add to this there was a marked increase in enemy fire from mortars, artillery and machine guns, and our casualties were mounting. Private P Kostera was killed by a sniper and Privates Erwin, Hardacre and Ron Smith were wounded by shell fire. Private Rex Holmes, who had been evacuated a few days earlier with desert fever, was killed as the result of a bombing attack on the Wadi Auda. Privates Nash and Dow were wounded just before we were relieved.’
Allan was evacuated to hospital and eventually to the hospital ship ‘Vita’. The August issue of the Border Watch carried a report ‘Glencoe Soldier Wounded in Action. Word has been received by Mr, and Mrs. John Dow, of Glencoe East, that their son, Private A. J. Dow, was wounded in action on August 8. Mr. and Mrs. Dow last received news of their son, who is serving with the A.I.F. in the Middle East, about ten days ago, when he wrote that he was fit and well. Later he cabled from Libya that he was ill, but not seriously. Private Allan Dow, who is 22 years of age, was born and educated at Glencoe, where he spent all his life. He enlisted in March of this year and had been in Adelaide, only a fortnight when he sailed for overseas.’ The Narracoorte Herald carried a similar report but added that Allan ‘was wounded in Libya on August 8, it is believed not seriously.’
Allan eventually wrote to his parents of the circumstances surrounding his wounding. This was then shared through the September ‘41 issue of the Border Watch. ‘While on patrol one evening he received a sniper's bullet in the right shoulder; During the two hours it took him to reach, the R.A.P, machine gun bullets landed all round him as he crawled along, in the moonlight. He is now progressing well in hospital. Allan recounted that ''I stopped my ounce of lead at 10:30 on the night of August 8 and it took me until 12:30 to walk to the R.A.P. which was about two miles away. It was two nights after full moon, and the desert is as light as day after full moon. There is absolutely no cover at all. I had to crawl about 25 or 30 yards to platoon H.Q.; and there was a machine gun firing at me all the way over. I was shaking as bullets were landing only two or three feet away. When I reached the R.A.P. Pte. Dow concludes, "I decided I wanted a sleep and I started weaving about as though I was drunk. They caught me and laid me down, and after a smoke and a drink I felt better."
Allan’s older brother, 29-year-old Donald, a farmhand then enlisted in September ’42. He served with the 9th Australian Motor Division as SX24730. At the end of that year, Allan’s action of supporting the War Savings Certificates drew considerable interest. The Narracoorte Herald praised his ‘fine spirit of self-sacrifice, denial and loyalty, which is to be admired. He is serving with the A.I.F. abroad and has forwarded £30 out of his war pay to his parents to be invested in war savings certificates. He has shown that he is possessed of the spirit of loyalty and sacrifice in the true sense of the term by his action, which is an example of what our boys who are fighting to save Australia and the Empire are willing to do, not only in the fighting line but in contributing to raise money to equip them to fight our ruthless enemies and to ensure liberty, freedom, and victory for the Allied cause, which means if we win we will not perish. The South-East should be proud of the indomitable spirit of such lads of the fighting forces as Ptes. Jim Hole and A. Dow. Buy War Savings Certificates. '
It was some time before Allan was able to re-join the 2/48th Battalion in December that year and to be declared as ‘Fit for active Service’.
He was again wounded in action at the end of October ’42. That involved the Battalion moving north from Trig 29 and pushing north. John Glenn explained ‘The task was a tremendous one. The battalion had been fighting hard for six days and had suffered many casualties. Tonight, it faced its most difficult task with depleted ranks, the total strength of the rifle companies being down to 213. We thought of ourselves as few enough then. But surely even the bravest amongst us would have shuddered if they could have known to what a weary handful we would be reduced by morning…’
Just days before Allan was wounded, on the 21st October ’42 an horrific accident had claimed the life of his 34-year-old farming brother, William. William and his brother, John lived on a farming property near their parents and would join the extended family for the midday meal. On that day their parents Margaret and John were attending the local Spring Show. William’s sister, Mary became alarmed and, with a neighbour searched the paddocks. The simple act of climbing through one of the farm fences 200 yard from the homestead whilst carrying a double-barrelled gun, resulted in it accidentally discharging. William was killed instantly. Fortunately, the family were spared an inquest, with the death declared an accident.
Allan’s injury, a further blow to the family, was reported in the local Narracoorte Herald in November that ‘Advice has been received by Mr. and Mrs. John Dow of Glencoe East, that their son, Pte. Allan J. Dow, was wounded in action on October 27. Pte. Dow is 23 years of age. He left Australia for the Middle East in April, 1941, and has been there ever since. He was also wounded at Tobruk on August 8 last year and spent four months in hospital.’
An infected cyst, exacerbated by desert conditions and the constant fighting, meant Allan spent more time with the field ambulance. By the time he had recovered, Allan was on his way back to Australia then home via Melbourne. His brother, Don was fortunate to be on leave at the time and was also able to spend precious time with their family.
In the strange mix of war and life, whilst home on leave, Allan acted as best man for Percy Edwards VX44814 of Naracoorte who married Mercy Carthy in their home town on December 4th ’42.
Just four months after William’s death and Allan’s wounding, he received the news of his mother’s death in the Mount Gambier General Hospital on the 25th February ’43, following an operation. At that stage Allan was 23. Margaret was later interred in the local Cemetery near her oldest son.
By that time the title ‘Rats of Tobruk’ had been coined and proudly owned by those who served in the conflict. Whilst home on leave the Border Watch commented that ‘Driver Allan Dow, youngest son of Mr. and the late Mrs. J. Dow, served in the Middle East for some years. He was one of the 'Tobruk Rats," and was wounded in the shoulder. His brother, Don, has been released from the A.I.F.’ Corporal Dudley Maitland Case SX20216 and Allan were amongst a group of Glencoe West soldiers who were home on leave and welcomed by the church as past members of the Methodist Young Men’s Class who were commended for having joined the forces and the pride in which they were held. Allan was twice a scholar in the school and responded with thanks for the reception organised for him and the other men, mentioning also how glad he was to be back home. That month Allan acted as best man when Dudley married Lyra Bonney in Glencoe Methodist Church. At a similar time, Allan’s brother, Don also announced his engagement to Ellen Thomas in Nov ’43.
The demands of the war meant that Allan was soon training in Queensland to face a very different enemy in the totally different, tropical conditions of New Guinea. He arrived in Milne Bay in August ’43. By February the following year, Allan was back in Brisbane but had acquired malaria, causing him to again be hospitalised and have time convalescing at Kapara Home where his malaria continued to flare.
By April ’45 Allan was again heading overseas to Morotai but was again wounded the following month, with a gunshot wound to his right arm and transferred to hospital. He wrote to his father explaining the circumstances.
"Here I am writing from the hospital again. This time I have, a bullet right through the muscle of my left arm. It happened in this way. We made a landing on another island recently. It was entirely unoccupied until we had gone about two miles. Then we ran across a few snipers. One of my lads received a burst of machine-gun in the back and was in a bad way. "Nip" let me go in and get him out. He did not interfere while I was fixing him up, but when I stayed with him to comfort him he let me have a burst. Fortunately, only one bullet entered my arm. It went right through my wallet in my left-hand shirt pocket, cut my identity disc off my neck, and came out through my paybook in my right hand pocket. All of my photos and money have a hole through them, and my fountain pen was smashed to bits. No bones were touched in my arm. I am satisfied now that you cannot kill us old soldiers. As an example of what I mean: One Jap had a shot at "Diver" Derrick from about five yards and missed. I bet you received a shock when Tom Jordan walked in. Anyway, don't worry as I am O.K. I am in capable hands. You can address your letter to the hospital, I will get them quicker then.”
The Border Watch again summarised 25-year-old Alan’s service. ‘Private Dow has been in the forces for nearly five years. During that time he served in Palestine, Syria, Tobruk, where he was wounded in the shoulder. He also took part in the battle of El Alamein, in Egypt.’
Allan also spent a brief time in Tarakan, a swampy, rain forest clad island of steep, inhospitable ridges. In October that year, Allan’s astute summary of the area was printed in the Border Watch. ‘Tarakan, which I called home for a period during the war, is a pear-shaped island 15 miles by 11 miles in dimensions, nine miles off the eastern coast of Borneo. It is a very valuable oil centre, and all the oil is pure. It is so pure that it is unnecessary to refine it. There was a fair bit of damage done by our bombers and other planes, and there were not many buildings left. The first morning of our landing was very dull. It had been raining a short time before we hit the shore. I will never forget it!
“We started off in our little barges from HMAS Mancora. These barges each contained 30 men or so. We had all sorts of sailing vessels around us. As we got near the shore all the warships opened up with everything they had. They threw everything but their guns and boats at the shore. LCI's opened up as well. (LCI means Landing Craft Infantry.) The noise was something terrific. As a matter of fact, you could not hear yourself talking to the chap beside you. There was plenty going on.
“SAW ROCKETS Suddenly there was a huge hiss and a sucking sound of air beside me. I thought the Nips had got our range and were shelling us. Then something in the air caught my eye. It was one of the 250 rockets which had just been fired. The rocket ship firing was responsible for the hissing and sucking noise. You could not see the shore for flames and smoke rising up from the oil wells and buildings. That happened on May 1. It was one of the worst beaches I have ever seen or been on.
“At an early hour of the morning the tide is right up on the beach, but it is only there for 1 ½ hours. The morning that we landed it had just started to go out. Some of the lads had to paddle 300 to 400 yards through slime and oily mud to reach the beach, so you can see what sort of a picnic we had.

“THE PEOPLE The people are a mixed lot. They come from all over the place - Java, Timor, Borneo, and other islands. The universally understood language is Malayan. We can't speak Malayan and they can't speak English, so it is a work of art trying to understand each other. They are a much cleaner type of native than those in New Guinea and much more progressive.”

By the end of that year, ’45 Allan finally returned home to be discharged in time for Christmas. A social and dance was organised to honour and welcome home Allan and two other young men who had served. He quickly returned to be an active member of the Glencoe Methodist Church and an active participant in the Anniversary the following year. He was also a highly respected friend and brother, consequently acting as Best Man when his brother, Donald married Edna Ludewig in October ‘46 at Nuriootpa.
Following his marriage, joy and tragedy struck Allan and Beryl’s family. They welcomed a son, John Alexander in September ’49. Just nine weeks later, whilst living in a caravan at Henley Beach South, baby John collapsed whist being bottle fed in the evening and died soon afterwards. Despite desperate attempts, resuscitation failed. In the ensuing years, Beryl and Allan had three children, Graham, John, Christine and Debbie.
Seventeen years after his mother’s death, Allan’s 80-year-old father died in March 1960. Just over a decade later, aged 51, Allan died on the 12th August 1970 at Semaphore and was buried in the Cheltenham Cemetery with his baby son.
Researched and written by Kaye Lee, daughter of Bryan Holmes SX8133, 2/48th Battalion.