Oscar Trimble Rowe was the youngest of  four children of mother Ada Mary nee Griffin (1865 -1945) and husband Henry Rowe (1863-1947). He was b: 29 Sep 1900 in and died of wounds 17 Aug 1942 WW2 in Greece age 41Y - he was interred at Phaleron War Cemetery, Athens, Greece.

Oscar attended the Petone Main School and during his youth living at Petone, Oscar's love of the sea saw him proficient in life saving and excelling  as a sailor.

1914 Lifesaving Cert for Petone Main School

4 May 1918 O T Rowe Awarded Life Saving ociety Bronze Medalion to O T Rose and Proficiency Cert

1928 Crewing Heretaunga Boating Club and se;lected representing Wellington in the contest for the Sanders Cup yachting contest on the Wellesley commencing from Stewart Island

Evening Post 10 Jul 1943: Killed at sea in transit to Prisoner of War Camp dearly loved youngest son of Mr and Mrs H Rowe, 12 Queen St, Petone and brother of J E Wilson and Victor Rowe, In his 43rd year.

Oscar was a Monotype Caster living with his parents at 12 Queen Street, Petone, Wellington when World War II broke out. He enlisted as a Private in the Army - Service Number 46191.  Older than most recruits, Oscar's skills were welcomed and was assigned as a NZEF/Typecaster  to the  25th Infantry Battalion of the Second New Zealand Division.

War caused Oscar's death - I have collated the events he experienced from various archives, writings giving visual accounts by survivors and from those who also lost a loved family member:

Oscar embarked for the Mediterranean and the 25th set up camp near El Alamein in late June 1942.

On July 1, an attack by German forces began what was to become a month-long battle for control of Egypt’s ports. The first fierce fighting at El Alamein, saw  around the Libyan port of Benghazi  prison camps which held almost 15,000 British POW suffering from scurvy, dysentery, desert sores and untreated wounds lying in the open in almost unbelievable squalor. On July 21, the 25th mounted a late-afternoon assault, capturing the eastern side of the strategically located El Mreir Depression however promised British armour didn’t arrive overnight, and at dawn, the 25th Infantry was over-run by the 5th and 8th Panzer Regiments. About 1700 Allied men were captured in the North African Campaign and finally  the orders came they were to be shipped to a prisoner-of-war camp in Benghazi, on the coast of Libya. Oscar's  life ended three weeks later.

Giovanni Ansaldo and Company built the "Nino Bixio"  in 1941 for the Garibaldi group, a Genoese shipping company - she was named after a 19th-century Italian soldier and politician who served under Giuseppe GaribaldiShe was a modern cargo ship, with a diesel engine driving her single screw and giving her a speed of 15 knots (28 km/h) It had been commissioned in Genoa 9 months earlier. All were divided alphabetically by surname and issued with identification cards : A–L with a red card went aboard the Sestriere and those M–Z, Oscar was one of 2921 Allied P.O.W. (174 New Zealand servicemen among them) got a blue card and went aboard the Nino Bixio to be crowded into the ships' cargo holds and by August 16, loading was complete. The two ships were destined for Brindisi in Italy, a port on the heel of Italy's boot under the escort of  destroyer Saetta and and 2 torpedo boats Sastore and Orione, plus their convoy was reinforced by several aircraft. The ships were unmarked flying neither a red cross or white flag, the signals for wounded servicemen or prisoners of war. The "Nino Bixio" Captain Ontonio Raggio decided to zig-zag across the Mediterranean, increasing a day's journey to 3 under the pretence he was sailing for Greece because Royal Navy submarines were hunting ships bound for Italy.

Crushed in the forward hold among 500 of the prisoners were 117 New Zealanders of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force "packed in tight as a swarm of bees" (Quote - Henderson) Standing room only - the air was heavy and stifling and foul as it was late afternoon at the height of the Mediterranean summer when the convoy set sail. 
The day following, whispers began filtering through the ship there was an Allied submarine in the area. It was the Royal Navy submarineHMS Turbulentsailing off the coast of Greece  who had  intercepted the convoy

Its captain, John ‘Tubby’ Linton, was a Welshman who played rugby for the Royal Navy. He would later be posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for sinking 81,000 tons of enemy shipping

On the fateful day, Monday 17 August 1942 by mid-afternoon, the Peloponnesian coast of Greece was visible from the deck of the Nino Bixio and about 3.30pm, Linton gave the order to fire at the two cargo ships. The first torpedo struck the "Nino Bixio’s engine room. The second clipped the rudder, disabling the ship’s steering. The third smashed into the forward hold. He then dived deep to evade counter-attack and escaped

The explosion killed dozens of men in an instant, vaporising them. Then seawater surged into the hold through a ragged hole two storeys high, throwing men around like garments in a washing machine. Hatch covers and steel beams collapsed into the turmoil A survivor remembered “swirling bits and pieces of bodies. Screams. Terrible cries for impossible help"

The sea was full of bobbing heads. Some captives had been sucked out through the hole in the hull, while others had leapt overboard, believing the ship was sinking.

Survivors still on the Nino Bixio began throwing ropes to them. One man pulled his body up hand over hand, then collapsed on deck, both of his legs missing. Another man was found in a coffin of steel plates that had curled around him as the sides of the ship split apart

TheNino Bixio glided on without power, slowing and lowering in the water. Behind her, saw “a pitiful spreading wake of debris and drowning men that finally reached almost as far as the eye can see”. The two destroyers cut through the human wake, releasing depth charges, but theTurbulent eluded them

A few survivors in the water were found clinging to makeshift rafts were rescued later and  transferredCorinth and Bari in Italy and moved to prisoner of war Camp 57 at Grupignano/San Mauro, about 9 miles (15 km) east of in north-eastern Italy. 

AFTER THE ATTACK, the Sestriere made for Brindisi at full speed, leaving the Nino Bixio floundering. The survivors were kept on the ship for four days to carry up as many dead as practical and to identify them if possible. During this period a few Italian army biscuits were their only food, but, as a survivor put it, "everyone was too dazed by the shock to worry about food". Of the 201       Australians on board at Benghazi, 37 were killed or drowned. After a short stay at Corinth, the uninjured were shipped to Bari in Italy, where they entered Campo 75, then being used as a main transit camp for British prisoners from North Africa.

Lest We Forget

Peter Marryatt Macpherson aged 21.Son of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Sinclair Macpherson, of Kaeo, Auckland, New Zealand.

Ivan George Pavicic aged 21.Son of Jack Pavicic and of Irene Pavicic (nee Coham), of Gisborne, Auckland, New Zealand.

Leo George Mccracken aged 22.Son of Thomas and Margaret McCracken, of Masterton, Wellington, New Zealand.

Eric Campbell Robertson aged 22.Son of James Charles and Elizabeth Campbell Robertson, of Mangere, Auckland, New Zealand.

Norman William Wilson aged 22.Son of Charles Wilson and of Mary Wilson (nee Jenkins), of Auckland, New Zealand.

George Godfrey Lang aged 23.Son of James Dudrick Lang, and of Mary Sophia Lang (nee Augustine), of New Lynn, Auckland, NZ

James Duncan Mcalpine aged 23.Son of Mary Taylor McAlpine, of Auckland City, New Zealand.

William Herbert Needham aged 23.Son of Thomas and Mary Blanche Needham, of Toko, Taranaki, New Zealand.

Keith Bredahl Neilsen aged 23.Son of Carl Bredahl Neilsen and of Lillian Lucy Neilsen (nee Riggs), of Palmerston North, Wellington, NZ

Douglas Henry Player aged 23.Son of Francis Fritz Allen Player and of May Player (nee Spiers), of Waihue, Auckland, New Zealand.

His brother Maitland Allen Player also fell.

James Oswald Potts aged 23.Son of James Oswald and Alice Potts, of Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand.

Ronald Arthur Ripley aged 23.Son of Mrs F. F. Ripley, Grey Lynn, Auckland City, New Zealand.

John Fletcher Robertson aged 23.Son of Richard Douglas and Catherine Robertson, of Wellington City, New Zealand.

Basil Claude Sampson aged 23.Son of Herbert and Amy Blanche Sampson, of Bell Block, Taranaki, New Zealand.

Leonard George Schmidt aged 23.(Served as L. G. SMITH).Son of George Hans Schmidt and Amelia Schmidt, of Sunnyside, ChCh, NZ

Herbert Leslie Small aged 23.Son of Herbert Leslie and Margaret Eleen Small, of Mataroa, Wellington, New Zealand.

Douglas Earl Stanley aged 23.Son of Wesley Newsome Stanley and Ivy Catherine Stanley, of Hastings, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand.

Reuben Jerome Stanton aged 23.Son of Joseph and Sarah Frances Stanton, of Ohalawi, Auckland, New Zealand.

John Robert Tonks aged 23.Son of John William and Lilian Jane Tonks, of Ashburton, Canterbury, New Zealand.

Leo Oliver Wakelin aged 23.Son of Walter Wakelin and of May Zealandia Constance Wakelin (nee Moody), of Whangarei, Auckland, NZ

Eric Wilde aged 23.Son of Horace James Wilde and of Annie Jane Wilde (nee Buttery), of Orepuki, Southland, New Zealand.

Herbert Lester Major aged 24.Son of Richard and Ellie Major, of Rongotea, Wellington, New Zealand.

James Lawrence Marshall aged 24.Son of James and Ellen Grooby Marshall, of Takaka, Nelson, New Zealand.

William Douglas Mclachlan aged 24.Son of Lachlan Ross McLachlan and of Mary Isabella McLachlan (nee Gosling), of Lower Hutt, WGTN

John Mcnamara aged 24.Son of Thomas McNamara and of Elizabeth McNamara (nee Traynor), of Masterton, Wellington, New Zealand.

William Richard Pamplin aged 24.Son of Walter Edward and Elizabeth Pamplin, of Whangarei, Auckland, New Zealand; husband of Muriel Amy Pamplin, of Awhitu Central, Auckland, New Zealand.

Howard Martin Skinner aged 24.Son of Henry Martin Skinner and of Ruth Gould Skinner (nee Dickey), of Rotorua, Auckland, New Zealand.

Tui Vincent Symes aged 24.Son of Alfred Louis and Martha May Symes, of Wanganui, Wellington, New Zealand.

Thomas William Macfarlane Tudhope aged 24.Son of Thomas Tudhope and of Marion Sarah Tudhope (nee Gordon), of Napier, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand.

William Glen White aged 24.Son of William White and of Elizabeth Glen White (nee Pirrit), of Auckland, New Zealand.

Norman Clyde Wright aged 24.Son of Alexander MacLellan Wright and Emma Lillian Wright, of Kaitaia, Auckland, New Zealand; husband of Margaret Lillian Wright, of Kaitaia.

George Gordon Drummond Mangos aged 25.Son of George and Christina Mangos, of Wellington City, New Zealand.

Frank Henry George May aged 25.Son of George and Eva E.May, of Fairburn's, Auckland, New Zealand.

John Grierson Mclellan aged 25.Son of Thomas McLellan and of Margaret McLellan (nee McLean), of Mosgiel, Otago, New Zealand; husband of Jean McLellan, of Otaki, Wellington, New Zealand.

Winton Lester Moorhead aged 25.Son of John and Caroline Maria Moorhead, of Northern Wairoa, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand.

Ernest George Morris aged 25.Son of Ernest John and Mary Jean Morris, of Pahiatua, Wellington, New Zealand.

?????????????? Son of Albert Edward and Jessie Wilhelmina Page, of Okoke, Taranaki, New Zealand; husband of Janet Bassett Page, of Urenui, Taranaki.

??????????Son of Geoffrey and Beatrice Parsons, of Avondale, Auckland, New Zealand.

Verdun Clifford Rand aged 25.Son of Robert Thomas Rand and Agnes Elizabeth Rand, of Foxton, Wellington, New Zealand.

?????????Son of George Sutherland and of Christina Sutherland (nee Allan), of Morton Mains, Southland, New Zealand.

????????????  Son of George Robert Taylor and of Olivia Taylor (nee Short), of Coromandel, Auckland, New Zealand.

William Henry Windle aged 25.Son of Denis Patrick and Elizabeth Windle, of Riversdale, Southland, New Zealand.

Vernon Carl Woisin aged 25.Son of Carl Woisin, and of Ethel Woisin (nee Williams), of Pukehina, Auckland, New Zealand.

Ivan Charles De La Mare aged 26.Son of Peter Joseph and Margaret Anne De La Mare, of Invercargill, Southland, New Zealand.

Donald Mcfarlane Mckenzie aged 26.Son of James and Mary McKenzie; husband of Elsie Edith McKenzie, of Auckland City, New Zealand.

Lloyd Lindsay Miller aged 26.Son of Armstrong Richard Miller and of Janet Isabella Miller (nee Cameron), of Parnell, Auckland City, NZ .

Glen Forbes Paton aged 26.Son of Claud Ernest Paton and of Isabel Gordon Paton (nee Andrews), of Wellington, New Zealand.

Joseph Piper aged 26.Son of Mr. and Mrs P. Paipeta, of Tamuka, Canterbury, New Zealand.

Leonard Douglas Reader aged 26.Brother of Mrs M. Tidey, Dargaville, New Zealand..

Charles Seymour aged 26.Son of Charles Henry and Adelaide Anna Rosina Seymour, of Gisborne, Auckland, New Zealand.

James George Simpson aged 26.Son of George Annand Simpson and Maggie Simpson, of Matata, Auckland, New Zealand.

David Robert Stevenson aged 26.Son of James Stevenson and of Rebecca Stevenson (nee Jenkins), of Arrowtown, Otago, New Zealand.

Percy Edward Taylor aged 26.Son of Edward George and Jessie May Taylor, of Feilding, Wellington, New Zealand.

Donald Arthur Tibbles aged 26.Son of Mr B. Tibbles, Te Awanga, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand.

William Winder Mackintosh aged 27.Son of William Winder Mackintosh and Helen Drummond Mackintosh, of Mosgiel, Otago, NZ.

George Alan Mcleod aged 27.Son of William and Flora McLeod; husband of Joyce McLeod, of New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand.

David Albert James Moores aged 27.Son of David James Moores and Margaret Mary Moores, of Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.

John Andrew Nicholson aged 27.Son of James Henry and Williamena Nicholson, of Awahuri, Wellington, New Zealand.

Walter Vernon Palmer aged 27.Son of Alfred Henry and Emily Eliza Palmer, of Oxford, Canterbury, New Zealand.

Douglas Peterson aged 27.Son of Peter Bruce and Elizabeth Goldie Peterson, of Duntroon, Otago, New Zealand.

Noel Henderson Reid aged 27.Son of Andrew George and Benjamina Jessie Reid, of Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.

Charles Maslin Robertson aged 27.Son of Bruce McIntosh Robertson and Charlotte Mary Ann Robertson, of Dunedin, Otago, NZ.

Clarence Arthur Stantiall aged 27.Son of Arthur Stantiall and of Ida Ellen Stantiall (nee Ingrim), of Marton, Wellington, New Zealand.

Donald Charles Tooth aged 27.Son of William Tooth, and of Sarah Tooth (nee Callaghan), of Portland, Auckland, New Zealand.

Allan Henry Lee aged 28.Son of Harry and Ellen Lee, of Marton, Wellington, New Zealand.

John Mcconachy aged 28.Son of James McConachy and of Christina McConachy (nee Sinclair), of Awahuri, Wellington, New Zealand.

George Henry Plummer aged 28.Nephew of Miss V. J. Plummer, of Mt Albert, Auckland City, New Zealand.

Peter Swan aged 28.Son of James and Mary Swan, of Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.

Frederick Hugh Thomson aged 28.Son of James Woods Thomson and of Barbara Daisy Thomson (nee Miller), of Hikurangi. Auckland, .

Charles James Trevella aged 28.Son of Richard Henry Trevella and of Ivy Alma Trevella (nee Breach), of Rakaia, Canterbury, NZ William Edward Turner aged 28.

Owen Wares aged 28.Son of Donald and Maud Eugenie Wares, of Bluff, Southland, NZ; husband of Thelma Hope Wares, ChCh

Grahame Falconer Watts aged 28.Son of John Watts, and of Jessie Watts (nee Falconer), of Auckland City, New Zealand.

Raymond Harold Watts aged 28.Son of Harold and Bertha Watts, of Palmerston North,; husband of Kathleen Watts, of Bulls, Wellington.

Archibald John Forbes Notman aged 29.Son of Thomas Henry Forbes Notman, and of Lottie Marion Notman, of Coromandel, Auckland,NZ Patrick Noel Rodgers aged 29.Son of William Rodgers and of Winifred Mary Rodgers (nee Ryan), of Stillwater, Westland, New Zealand.

George Steed aged 29.Son of Thomas and Helen Lawson Steed, of Waiharara, Auckland, New Zealand.

Kenneth William James Thomson aged 29.Son of James and Mary Ann Thomson, of Dannevirke, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand.

Son of Frederick Chell, and of Catherine Chell (nee Blackett), of Frankton, Hamilton, New Zealand.

Kenneth Weston Papps aged 30.Son of Herbert Weston Papps and of Hilda Mary Papps (nee Ashley), of Christchurch, Canterbury, NZ Patrick Randle aged 30.Son of Percy John and Alice Elizabeth Randle, of Te Puke, Auckland, New Zealand.

Ashley Aubin Thompson aged 30.Son of Vernon and Adella Thompson, of Victoria Valley, Auckland, New Zealand.

Lawrence Noel Truman aged 30.Son of Arthur and Olive Ruby Truman, Bulls, Wellington, husband of Margaret Truman, Awatoto, Napier 

Charles Marsh aged 31.Son of Charles Marsh and of Naahiraka Marsh (nee Takona), of Tauranga; husband of Makarena Marsh, of Whakarewarewa, Rotorua,.

Donald Mcdonald aged 31.Son of Leslie Grant McDonald and Ada McDonald, of Ashburton, Canterbury, New Zealand.

Horace Speake aged 31.Son of Mr. and Mrs R. G. Speake, of Cambridge, Auckland, New Zealand.

David Robert Wells aged 31.Son of William and Isobel Wells, of Rakaia, Canterbury, New Zealand.

Herbert Lang aged 32.Son of Alex and Ethel Lang, of Waipawa, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand; husband of Ellen Rosalind Lang, of Taupo, Auckland, New Zealand.

Norman Roderick Mckay aged 32.Son of Alexander Samuel McKay and of Anne McKay (nee Matheson), of Waipu, Auckland, NZ.

Frederick William Polhill aged 32.Son of Mrs E. Polhill, Geraldine, South Canterbury, New Zealand.

Arthur Robert Stead aged 33.Son of Robert and Barbara Stead, of Hastings, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand.

Robert Henry Wilson aged 33. Son of Thomas Wilson and of Rachel Jane Wilson (nee Mackay), of Paparoa, Auckland, New Zealand.

Alexander Mckenzie aged 34.Son of Alexander McKenzie and of Mary Jessie McKenzie (nee Kempt), of Remuera, Auckland, New Zealand.

Raymond Leslie Peters aged 34.Son of Walter James Peters, and of Emma Eliza Peters (nee Napier), of Waiotira, Auckland, New Z

David Robert Pharazyn aged 34.Son of Godfrey and Ella Pharazyn, of Dannevirke, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand.

John Urban Smith aged 34.Son of John Urban Smith and Margaret Euphemia Smith, of Bluff, Southland, New Zealand.

Alfred Francis Sargisson aged 35.Son of William and Lillian Sargisson, of Bainesse, Wellington, New Zealand.

Alfred Henry John Stewart aged 35.Son of Alfred Phillip and Minnie Stewart, of Hunterville, Wellington, New Zealand.

Walter Alexander Theyers aged 35.Son of John Charles Theyers, and of Annie Jemimah Theyers (nee Elliott), of Athol, Southland, Nz James White aged 35.Son of William White and of Agnes White (nee Scott), of Kingsland, Auckland, New Zealand.

Edward Albert Lusk aged 36.Son of Rubina M. Lusk, of Ashburton, Canterbury, New Zealand.

Alfred Lionel Mcquoid aged 36.Son of Alfred McQuoid and of Kathleen McQuoid (nee Foster), of Papakura, Auckland, New Zealand.

Kalika Poi aged 37.Husband of Pinea Poi, of New Zealand.

Albert John Robinson aged 37.Son of Albert and Bridget Robinson, of Blenheim,  husband of Evaline Jean Robinson, of Wellington NZ,

Oscar Trimble Rowe aged 41.Son of Henry and Ada Rowe, of Petone, Wellington, New Zealand.

Lancelot Fenwick Wilson aged 41.Son of George and Mary Isabella Wilson, of Auckland, New Zealand.

Douglas John Watt aged 42.Son of William Andrew Watt and of Agnes Watt (nee Chirnside) of Marton, Wellington, New Zealand.

Henri William Le Bailly aged 51. Son of Henri Jean and Maria Charlotte Le Bailly, brother of Miss C. C. Le Bailly, of Auckland City, NZ.