Private Horace (Lofty) Henry Lowe

Deborah Wheeler

Contributed

Thanks to one of our readers who kindly dropped off at copy of an article which appeared in the Daily News on January 16, 2010 relating to the Centaur (as pictured).

Last month I wrote about local man, Private Percy Clegg who had lost his live when the Centaur, the ship he was stationed on was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine 1-177 commanded by Lieutenant Commander Hajime Nakagawa off Brisbane.

Now we know of another local man from Killarney who was also aboard the Centaur that fateful night.

Private Horace (Lofty) Henry Lowe (QX23831) was just 23 years old when he lost his life with the sinking of the Australian Hospital Ship Centaur on the morning of 14 May 1943.

Born in Toowoomba on 11

November 1919, he was the son of Leslie and Minnie Lowe. After the family moved to Killarney, Lofty attend the Killarney State School. When he left school, he worked on some of the local farms before the family moved to Brisbane just prior to the start of the Second World War.

He enlisted in Brisbane on 22 September 1940 and was recruited into the 2/12 Field Ambulance. His various drafts saw him stationed in Tamworth, Sydney, Darwin before being assigned to the Centaur. The ship was being deployed from Sydney direct to Cairns and then onto Port Moresby.

In his book, A Salute to Our Fallen, the late Brian O’Grady recorded a conversation he had with Allan Pettiford 2/12 Field Ambulance who had been a mate of Lofty Lowe. The late Allan Pettiford was the last surviving Queenslander from the sinking of the Centaur and he recounted the following about his friend Lofty Lowe.

“I have long lasting memories of Lofty Lowe. He was a great character and his sense of humour always made him popular in the unit. He had a great interest in boxing and used to train the boys. If you wanted a mate for a party that might be rough, Lofty was you man. He would never let you down. He was issued with what we called ‘Bombay bloomers’ when he was drafted to Darwin. A funny sight was Lofty walking down George Street, Sydney in these. They came halfway between knees and feet and would have been 30 inches around the bottom. Lofty being over six feet certainly exaggerated the style of the bloomer and he enjoyed it.”

Of the one hundred and forty-nine members of the 2/12 Field Ambulance who were aboard the Centaur on the morning of the 14 May 1943 only eleven survived. Another local veteran who gave his all. Lest we forget.