![]() 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
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
Garibaldi. She 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. 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. |