Reg Rowley
Parents
Joseph Smart
Rowley and Eircell
Broome, find via index on Homepage
Reginald William Rowley (b 14 Feb 1913 Bethanga, Victoria, d 2 Jan 1944
Berlin)
Reg went to Bethanga State School, then Albury Grammar School, where he
was school captain. After leaving school, he was dairy farming with his
brother Claude on the family farm (Holdsworthy), on the edge of the
Hume Weir near Bethanga. When the farm was unable to support the two of
them, Reg left to join the Police Force. He was a good footballer,
playing for Bethanga, and played a couple of games for Hawthorn
He was
not married, but leaft a steady girlfriend at home. She married a few
years after the war ended Reg was just short of his 31st birthday
when he was shot down
over Berlin, flying a Lancaster Bomber.
On a personal note, he was my uncle (Claude Rowley was my father). As I
was born in early 1941, Reg would have seen me when he had home visits,
prior to embarking for Canada in 1942, but I was too young to remember
him. I get a couple of mentions in the letters below - Les Rowley
The family have some of his letters from his years in the RAAF.
(1) May
42 (0.7MB PDF) - from flying training camp in Narrandera NSW. Some
responses to correspondence. Training descriptions start on page 2
(2) July
42 (1.2MB PDF) - written on board ship on the way to Canada. Good
descriptions
of a shipload of Airmen off to war, and horseplay when they crossed
the equator.
(3) Late
42 (0.7MB PDF) - from Dunnville, Canada. More training. Some of it
sound quite scary.
(4) Dec
42 (0.2 MB PDF) - from Halifax, just after posting his "Wings"
photo (above)
(5) Apr 43 (1.3 MB PDF) -
from Ramsbury, Reg manages to slip a location past the censors on page
4.
(6) Jul
43 (1.0 MB PDF) - from Litchfield, He enjoyed a bundle of "Border
Morning Mail"s - still the journal of record in North East Victoria
..
.
1938 to 41 Reg was in the Victoria Police. At the time of
his enlistment he was living at 130 Page St, Middle Park. His
recruiting papers record a fine of 10/- for shooting on a Sunday (faint
echoes of Arlo Guthrie?)
Service Record Summary
12/9/41 Enrolled in Reserve
10/10/41 Enlisted, straight to ITS
(Initial Training School , Somers).
2/4/42 Narrandera, NSW
(EFTS Elementary Flight Training School). Trained as a pilot.on Tiger
Moths,
includling low and night flying
28/5/42 Bradfield Park, NSW
(Embarcation Depot)
23/6/42 Departed Australia by
ship
9/8/42 Arrived Canada
16/8/42 Dunnville (SFTS
Senior Flight Training School) Trained on Wirraways
28/12/42 Halifax, embarked for UK The 10
day trip to the UK was presumably by ship, during the height of the
Battle of the Atlantic?
8/1/43 Disembarked UK,
to (Satellite) Ramsbury RAF Base. Ramsbury is about 9 miles SE of
Swindon
20/4/43 Lichfield (Advanced
Flight Training), probably Oxfords. Lichfield is 15 miles north
of Birmingham.
5/6/43 can’t work it
out
5/11/43 460 Squadron, Breighton
(Lancasters). Breighton is about 6 miles east of Selby, which is 12
miles south of York
2/1/44 Killed over Berlin
Service
record image (beware, 6.5 MB PDF)
Email from David Vernon Aug 2011
David is editing the memoirs of
his second cousin, Arthur Hoyle, wo flew Lancasters in the war. These
mention Reg
In the barrack block there were five beds which, when we
arrived at Binbrook, were already occupied by some particular friends
of ours. The pilot, Reg Rowley, was a competent artist and. in the
space of a couple of days, he painted a very respectable mural on the
wall over his bed. Inevitably, in a couple of
weeks, the Rowley crew was lost on operations and new men occupied the
beds. Over the next few months we watched in fascination, as everyone
who occupied one of the beds died in a few days. Nothing
would
have made us sleep in those beds
and later
He painted a mural on the wall - he was
right up against the wall there, I was next to him - and he ruled this
big piece off on the plaster wall and with crayons he started to draw a
bush scene of gum trees and a post and rail fence and horses. He often
used to have a go at this. It was quite big, probably be about five
foot to three or something. He finished it and he signed it and he said
that will be my epitath. And went the next day.
I came back and that when the war first really hit
me. I came back and there's the picture of his mother on the top of his
locker. I suddenly bloody well started to think what this was all
about. And then I was wakened up the next morning with the SPs coming
and taking his stuff. It touched me because they were very quiet and
full of reverence. They took the photograph and very carefully packed
it up. But I think probably Reg Roley's loss hit me more than any of
the other pilots because I slept next to him. So Reg went and who else
*
Squadron
Leader HD Marsh assumed command of 460 Squadron
The memoirs are available on the
web, and make fascinating reading. See
The following websites are worth a visit
Ramsbury
Airfield Control Tower
Some Reading
(links
fixed)
Lichfield
http://www.controltowers.co.uk/L/Lichfield.htm
http://www.raf-lichfield.co.uk/home.htm
Breighton
Airfield
http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/s53.html
460 Squadron
460
Squadron
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Page last updated - 22 Jan 2009
22 Aug 2011
