The Great War attracted all types; the good, the bad and the ugly – and “Harry Lowe”, who we suspect in hindsight the A.I.F. may have wished had just stayed at home!
To say Lowe, whose full name was Henry Charles Lowe, from Raglan Street, Preston, was a bit of a lad would be an understatement!
He managed to enlist three times, was discharged twice for unsatisfactory conduct (including a six month sentence with hard labour (which saw him returned to Australia), and while all that was happening, he “forgot” about his wife each time he enlisted!
To be fair, his first service was with the Naval and Military Expeditionary Force protecting the islands north of Australia – in most cases, these were short term appointments and he re-enlisted after serving out his time. He appears to have become “Harry” to disguise his true identity after completing his sentence in Australia, and after arriving back in England he was twice court-martialled for being Absent With Leave before being posted as Missing on 3 May, 1917 and certified Killed In Action as at that date in November.
His wife Mary became known to authorities in August 1918 when she produced a Marriage Certificate and Statutory Declaration to the effect that they had been living apart, although not legally separated and she had a Court Order of 15 shillings per week against him from May 1917 to October when she received a War Pension.
If any further proof was needed that Lowe was a “player”, when pensions were allocated to his wife, daughter Julia and a son, George, it was also discovered he had an illegitimate son, Henry, living in Collingwood who was also declared dependent on Lowe.
