Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Arthur Rowe, best known as Artie or Arch, was born in Proserpine on 7th March, 1919 to Henry Thomas & Sophia Louisa (Rutsh), the youngest of 11 children. His older siblings were Mary (Waddington),Henry, Elizabeth (Dibben), Bill, Eddie, Florence (Theiss/Foley), Charles (died as infant), George, Ethyl (Johnson) & Elsie (Ecker). Artie spent his early childhood at Preston where his parents owned a farm on the other side of Orchid Creek & went to school at nearby Bona Vista. Here he relates some of his experiences during his school days: “One afternoon while at school a storm broke with several inches of rain falling & Orchid Creek flooded, blocking the road some” Mr Rowe said. “My father came to the rescue by swimming cross & took me back, with me clinging to his shoulders. Quite an experience for a 6 year old.” “The school, compared to present day standards was primitive. The playing sports area was on a slope down hill from the school building. The bottom boundary faced Conway Road end had a flat area parallel to the road where the athletic sports were conducted. Outside the boundary was open bushland which we used as playing area. “There were tracks through the grass & 1 game we played there was “wallabies”, this game consisted of 1 person representing the wallaby, being chased by others representing dogs. The tracks through the grass had snares set by tying grass from either side together, low down & not visible. The wallaby being chased raced flat out along the track hitting a snare & fell face down to the amusement of others watching”. During his schooldays, Artie was also interested in sport & won foot races in his age division & a few other types of events. When age 12, at the annual combined school sports, held at the old football ground across the river in Phaff’s paddock, he tied in the high jump event with Cecil Casey clearing the bar 4ft 11 ½ inches. The style of jumping has changed somewhat to what it is today. After leaving school Artie found a job, cane cutting, which earned him 30/- a week. With his money he purchased a second hand roadster pushbike which was used to ride mainly to & from work In 1936, Artie & his brother George, joined the local cycle club & started racing. After several starts, George won a race, so Artie decided to have a go at it himself, on one Saturday morning trading his old bike in on a racing model at Dobbo’s Garage, On Saturday afternoon he had his 1st race. Artie & Ned Paradies started off the limit handicap & were never headed. Ned won the race defeating Artie by half a wheel. On the second race, Ned & he were off again in the same handicap, off limit, but with a reduced margin. Again they were never caught & approaching the finish line, he said to himself that he was not going to be beaten again, which he wasn’t, winning by a wheel. From then on he seemed to have the edge on him. Proserpine had a strong cycle club with some prominent riders who could have made a name for themselves if they could have had proper training. 2 in particular were Chick Stanley & Ned Paradies. Among other riders were: Bill Dobbins, Alan Wilson, Stan Bussuttin & Alf Everett. Artie did well for himself, winning many trophies in local races as well as events in Bowen & Townsville. During the off seasons, he played football with the Proserpine Rovers winning the Premiers Cup in 1938. Prior to the outbreak of WW2, Artie worked on road construction on the Gymna Range near Kilcoy for his cousins, the Thiess brothers. It was while working there he got his call up notice from the army to attend training in an R.A.E. Engineering Unit. He was later assigned to the 11th Australian Field Company & served in New Guinea. After his discharge in 1946, Artie returned to cycling in N.S.W. where he continued until 1953, winning numerous events including many long distance races against world champions. With his cycling career over, he turned to clay target shooting & joined the Bathurst Gun Club where he later became club president & on leaving, a life member. While at Bathurst he won Club, District & State championships & in 1962, represented Australia in the Commonwealth Games & was successful. He also won events in Papua New Guinea. Archery was another sport at which Artie excelled, earning him the position of being one of the top 5 archers in N.S.W. in 1966. Artie formed the Bathurst Archery Club in 1965 & was club president & champion for 4 years until he left the district. After the war, Artie worked as an engineer until his retirement. In 1983 he returned to live at Vine Creek on the Dingo Beach Road.