This is the story
of my uncle, Reg Rowley, leading up to his service in Lancaster
bombers in the second world war. We are fortunate to have letters
and photo albums covering his war service time.. Clicking on an
image will get you a larger version. The back arrow will get you
back to this page. The images you see on this page are a little
bit larger than the originals in the album, but the larger
versions are still good'
In January 2023 Reg was honoured by beng the
day's featured serviceman in the last Post Ceremony at the
Australian War Memorial in Canberra. The Memorial staff record the
ceremonies. You can view Reg's ceremony at
https://bonesinthebelfry.com/
Reg was born in
1914 on a family farm at Bethanga, in north east Victoria. He went
to primary school in Bethanga, and then till age 17 at Albury
Grammar, where he was school captain and a good all round
sportsman. Reg worked on the farm for a while, but by the late
thirties he had left. Presumably this was due to a combination of
economic necessity, and the practice that the eldest son carried
on the farm. (Reg was the second son).
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During this period
hedid a few trips around Victoria by motorbike and car. It must
have seemed very different when he saw some of the grand houses
and ordered countryside of England
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In 1938 he
was working in the post office, and even had a trip to Adelaide
with a Melbourne GPO cricket team. In July1938 he joined the
Victoria Police force in St Kilda, Melbourne.. In March 41 he did
a months morse code training course at Point Cook (he passed at 25
words per minute)
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Reg applied to join
the Air Force as air crew in May 41. He actually enlisted in Oct
41 and was sent straight to ITS (Initial Training School) in
Somers. This was the start of an 18 months training program
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In April 42 he was
posted to Narrandera for Elementary Flight Training School (EFTS).
In a letter he talks of an exhausting program including Link
Trainers, exams, and low and night flying in Tiger Moths. 60 hours
flying time was required to complete the course.
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On 28th
of May they went to Bradfield NSW (their embarkation point,)
Embarcation Leave, with
parents, siblings, and the author. Reg never got back to Bethanga
It was
nearly a month before they sailed for Canada on 23rd of
June. This gave them a chance to explore Sydney and the south
coast of NSW, and then Brisbane. This began what looks like a
happy but fulfilling time as they combined training with seeing
new parts of the world.
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The first page of
Reg's album of 42-43 is a photo of a girl, obviously a memory he
kept close over the next year and a half
However they had
access to the deck, and Philipino stewards, plus organised classes
and physical education to keep them occupied. Reg wrote a long
letter describing the horseplay that occurred with the crossing
the equator ceremonies. Link
to full letter . A good natured letting off steam occurred.
Towards the end of the letter Reg concluded
Once they got to US
and Canada they had a chance to do a bit of sightseeing before
getting down to training
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There is even a photo of sheep. Reg was obviously interested in the different treatment from their farm at home
However the piper
must be paid and now it is training at Dunnville in Canada (about
20 miles north of Niagara Falls). This was SFTS (Senior Flight
Training School)
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More flying related
snaps
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There is a letter
from Dunnville discussing introduction to instrument flying,
blacking out during acrobatics, practicing forced landings, etc.
It is four pages and an interesting read. However it doesn't
extract easily, so if you are interested, go to the full
document
Reg enjoyed the
Canadian hospitality during his stay. As later in England,, they
sometimes stayed in or visited houses rather grander than those at
home
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As usual in this
story, whenever they arrived anywhere it took the military a few
weeks to work out what to do with them, In this case they spent a
few weeks at Bournemouth. They also had some leave spent in Devon
and Cornwall, visiting Boscastle and Launceston
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These pilots
by now were obviously getting soft, so it is off to a one month
toughening up course at Whitley Bay in Northumberland. As this was
the middle of winter, it must have been bracing
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April 43, it is now
off to a refresher course at Fairoaks Aerodrome, near Woking
Surrey. The boys are obviously feeling the heat after
Northumberland
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In a letter In May
43 Reg is posted to Ramsbury, an operational base near Swindon.
The nearest (and only) recreation was a pub at Hungerford, about 8
miles away.
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Now the photos dry
up completely under the pressure of flying duties. In a letter
from Ramsbury, Reg talks about his introduction to twin engined
aircraft, and night flying under blackout conditions. Full
text see Ref 179. An Extract follows
There is an
interesting letter I think from Litchfield in July 43. Reg talks
about his introduction to Lancasters, and buying eggs for a treat.
Full
text, see Ref 180. An extract follows
On 5/11/43 Reg is posted to 460 Squadron, Breighton (Lancasters). Breighton is about 6 miles east of Selby, which is 12 miles south of York. Ths last photo is not labelled, but I am fairly sure it is Reg with his aircrew. The number is right for a Lancaster crew. For a list of the crew, and a description of his final mission, go to http://www.aircrewremembered.com/rowley-reginald-william.html
We did have contact
some years ago with someone who knew Reg in passing in the
airforce, and he remarked that Reg's locker area was adorned with
sketches of Australia that Reg had done. The last few pages of the
album contain sketches by Reg. The very last sketch is a few
branches of a gum tree
