William Roy Lowdon memorial plaque, St John’s Church, Orange. Image courtesy Julie Sykes.
William Roy Lowdon was born in Orange, and lived in Bathurst Road. He and his father were the proprietors of Lowdon & Son Bakery in East Orange. Roy was Secretary of the Thistle Club, and sang at their gatherings. The Leader claimed “Roy was one of the most popular of the young men of Orange”.
Roy enlisted in March 1916, and served in 1st Division Australian Army Service Corps. He was delivering supplies at Dickebusch (Dickie Bush) in Belgium on 31 August 1917 when a shell fell on him. According to a fellow soldier fragments of bomb entered his armpit and he exclaimed “I’m hit Tick”, and died a few minutes later. He was 26.
Roy’s name appears on St John’s Presbyterian Church Orange Honour Roll. His memory is also honoured by a plaque adjacent to the sanctuary. William Roy Lowdon is also commemorated on the World War I Roll of Honour on the southern face of the Orange Cenotaph.
In 1923 the Anzac Memorial Avenue of trees was planted along Bathurst Road to commemorate fallen WWI soldiers. A tree was planted in honour of “Pte WR Lowdon”; it was donated by DH Lowdon. Very few of the trees are still standing today.
William Lowdon’s headstone, Reninghelst New Military Cemetery, Belgium.
Image courtesy Sharon Hesse.
