The AIF Project

Christopher Roy LOWN

Regimental number4530
Place of birthAdelaide, South Australia
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationLabourer
AddressAngas Street, Goodwood, South Australia
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation19
Height5' 5.25"
Weight140 lbs
Next of kinSister, Mrs M Tinga, South Australia
Previous military serviceServed for 1 year in Senior Cadets, Goodwood; since exempted. Previously rejected for AIF enlistment on account of chest measurement.
Enlistment date13 October 1915
Place of enlistmentMelbourne, Victoria
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name5th Battalion, 14th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/22/3
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A32 Themistocles on 28 January 1916
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll46th Battalion
FateKilled in Action 7 August 1916
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France

Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.

The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra.

On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours.

After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
142
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Commemorated in St George the Martyr's Anglican Church, Goodwood, Adelaide, South Australia. Inscription reads: 'To the Glory of God. In Honour of Our Lady, Blessed Michael the Archangel, Blessed George the Martyr & of all the Blessed Saints. To the dear Memory of all those who went forth from this Altar, where they offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ, to give their lives in the Great War. This Screen is Blessed on Anzac Day 25 April 1922 being the Feast of Saint Mark the Evangelist.'
Other details

War service: Egypt, Western Front

Joined 46th Bn, Serapeum, 2 April 1916.

Found guilty, 9 May 1916, of failing to obey an order of an NCO: deprived of 3 days' pay.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 2 June 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 8 June 1916.

Killed in action, 7 August 1916.

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, LOWN Christopher Roy

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