Arnold William (Dick) Lowden

Arnold was born on March 23 1886, at Tintaldra, Victoria. He was the seventh of nine children of Joseph and Grace (nee Mulholland) Lowden. When Arnold was eight years old, his mother passed away due to illness. In 1905, Joseph died of heart failure. While six of his siblings were over 21, Arnold was 19, and his two younger sisters, Rosa and Margaret, were 17 and 13. Rosa married Carles Moserop the following year, but it’s unclear what became of Margaret.

Arnold enlisted on March 6 1915. As both parents were deceased, he listed his next of kin as his brother, Joseph. He was recorded as being a single, 29-year-old horsebreaker living in Tintaldra, Victoria. He was allocated the Service Number 936 and was placed in A Company of the 23rd Battalion. Arnold embarked on HMAT A14 Euripides at Melbourne on May 10 1915.

After a short time training in Egypt, the 23rd Battalion landed at ANZAC Cove on September 4 1915. The very next day, they took over the Lone Pine trenches. Between then and their evacuation in December, they would rotate daily through this area with the 24th Battalion. The reason was that the fighting there was so dangerous and exhausting that troops could stay only a short time.

The battalion arrived at Marseilles, France, on March 30 1916, after spending three months in Egypt. It arrived on the Western Front on April 10 1916, where it occupied the trenches of the Armentiers sector in northern France. In July, it received its baptism of fire in the horrendous battles of Pozieres and Mouquet Farm, where it lost almost 90% of its original members.

The following month, on August 23, Arnold was taken to the 2nd Australian Field Ambulance suffering from a slight shrapnel wound to his right arm that had gone septic. After leaving the Field Ambulance, he injured his right ankle and was forced to remain at the 1st ANZAC Rest Station while it healed.

In mid-November, he was evacuated to the 2nd Australian Field Ambulance suffering from trench feet. He remained there for some period of time. The winter of 1916/1917 was one of the coldest on record, and the troops in the trenches suffered severely. On November 25, Arnold was admitted to the 6th Field Ambulance with asthma. His condition was severe enough for him to be evacuated to a hospital in England.

His medical report from No. 2 Australian Convalescent Depot at Weymouth stated: “Left unit on Nov. 12th Left France Dec. 26th, 1916. At Canadian hospital at Etaples in interval. Has had asthma for years. Had seven attacks 2 weeks ago. Wheezes at night. Sibilant rhonchi in chest. Had asthma since childhood. Service has aggravated the condition.” He was rated as having a one-third incapacity. The Medical Board found that Arnold was permanently unfit for General Service and temporarily unfit for Home Service. He was to return home to Australia on HT Barambah and be discharged from the AIF. For his service during World War 1, he was awarded the 1914/15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

Upon returning home from overseas, Arnold married Elvira Portia Pike on April 16 1918, in Albury. She was the second daughter of Mr and Mrs H Pike of the Railway Coffee Palace, Wodonga. The couple moved to the Western District town of Beeac, 160km south-west of Melbourne, where they took up farming. The couple had a daughter, Carol Grace Lowden, early in their marriage, but she tragically passed away when she was three. The couple remained on the farm at Beeac. 

When World War 2 broke out, Arnold enlisted in the Voluntary Defence Corps, was allocated the Service Number V382905, and was placed in the 19th Battalion. On May 1 1942, he was promoted to Corporal. He was discharged on September 21 1945.

On May 18 1956, Arnold passed away at the age of 70. Elvira remained in the district until her death on August 9 1973. Both were buried in the Beeac Cemetery.