Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Percy John Gow was born on 7 April 1884 at Timaru, he declared, though his birth was registered at Dunedin. He was the third child and second son of John and Elizabeth Ann (née Mariner) Gow, later of Surrey Hills, Victoria, Australia. His older brother and sister were born at Timaru, while the birth of his younger brother was registered at Dunedin. Scottish-born John and Dunedin-born Elizabeth had married at Dunedin in 1880. A school record in New Zealand has been found only for the eldest of the family, William George Gow, who attended Forbury School from the age of five until August 1887 when his destination was unknown. This may have been when the family moved to Victoria, Australia, where another daughter was born in 1889. Percy was at home at Richmond with his parents and younger brother Harry in 1909, and at Surrey Hills with his parents and sister Lilian and brother Henry in 1914, following the occupation of a printer. Both his oldest brother William George Gow and his sister Lilian Margaret Gow returned to New Zealand where they married. William George married in 1908 at Timaru and had three children before he went to South Australia. Lilian married in 1916 and had three sons all born in Dunedin. She died in 1938 at Dunedin; her husband William Thomas died in 1943.

Percy was ten years out of his apprenticeship when he enlisted on 18 August 1916. A printer’s compositor, 32 years 4 months old, and single, he named his father as next-of-kin – Mr John Gow, Guilford Road, Surrey Hills, Victoria, that being also his own address. Joining the 6th Reinforcements, 60th Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force, he swore “I will well and truly serve our Sovereign Lord the King in the Australian Imperial Force from 31.5.17 until the end of the War, and a further period of four months thereafter unless sooner lawfully discharged, dismissed, or removed therefrom; and that I will resist His Majesty’s enemies and cause His Majesty’s peace to be kept and maintained; and that I will in all matters appertaining to my service, faithfully discharge my duty according to law.” Medically examined at Melbourne the same day, he stood at 5 feet 4½ inches, weighed 114 pounds, and had a chest measurement of 31-34 inches. His complexion was medium, his eyes brown and his hair black. He had good vision and hearing; was free of diseases and physical defects; his heart and lungs were healthy; and he had free use of his joints and limbs. He was, thus, fit for Active Service. He had 2 marks on face, a mole under his right arm and another on his right shoulder. He was posted to C Company Reserve at Bendigo.

Private P. J. Gow embarked with the 60th Battalion of the 6th Reinforcements, departing from Melbourne per the “Nestor” on 2 October 1916 and disembarking at Plymouth England on 16 November to march into the 15th Training Battalion. Proceeding overseas to France, via Folkestone, per the “Princess Clementine” on 30 December, he marched in at Etaples the next day. On 8 February 1917 he marched out to join his unit and was taken on Strength two days later. On 19 April 1917, he was admitted to the 5th Divisional Rest Station, sick with influenza. A week later, suffering from asthma, he was transferred to the 56th Casualty Clearing Station. Discharged to duty on 13 May, he was able to rejoin his Unit on 17 May. After being sent to the 3rd Army Sniping School on 9 July 1917, Percy rejoined his Unit on 22 July. He was then wounded in Action – gassed (gas poisoning) by shell - on 16 October 1917. Admitted firstly to the 17th Casualty Clearing Station at Boulogne the next day, he was then admitted to the Ambulance Train. Two weeks later he was transferred to the 1st Convalescent Depot. On 9 November he was discharged to the Rest Camp. After marching in at Le Havre on 12 November, he marched out on 21 November and rejoined his Unit in the Field on 26 November.

Percy Gow proceeded to Paris on leave on 9 January 1918, rejoining on 17 January. He went to the Australian Corps School as Batman on 8 March 1918 and rejoined his Unit three weeks later. But, on 27 April 1918 in France, Percy John Gow was killed in action, aged 34 years. He has no known grave but is remembered on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial. After the war an appeal in Australia Raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, most of the money going to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The fathers of twelve hundred Victorian schoolchildren are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, and many more recorded on the memorial.

A certificate of report of death and of incapacitation was forwarded to Mrs Gow on 25 July 1918, in response to her earlier communication. On 2 June 1918 Mrs E. A. Gow had written – My son Percy John Gow (No. 2680, 60 Battalion, AIF) who was gassed some time in 1917, and we were informed that he has since been killed in Action. I have applied to the ANA Lodge for some relief. And said Lodge wants some more information, viz. date that he was gassed and return to duty & also date he was killed. Would you kindly supply me with the information. Effects received from the field, 18 Nov 1918 – holdall, 2 razors, 2 strops, note-book, stamps, various cards, various papers, 1 pencil – were sent to his mother on 6 January 1919. On 19 January 1919 she acknowledged receipt of a wallet, 2 photos, letters, case, cards, which had been sent to Mr John Gow. On 19 January 1919, Mrs E. A. Gow of “Craigielea”, Guildford Road, Surrey Hills, Victoria, wrote enquiring about the remainder of Percy’s effects – watch, Testament and looking glass in case (noting that her son Percy always had these on him). These were probably forwarded on 22 May 1919 and received on 27 May. In 1921 his mother requested that the Cross (symbolical of Christianity) be placed on her son’s permanent headstone. Also in 1921, she received the Memorial Scroll and King’s Message. In May 1923 she collected the Memorial Plaque on behalf of her husband. The Victory Medal had been received in April 1923. Percy John Gow was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. Private Percy J. Gow, killed in action somewhere in France on 27 April 1918, was the second son of Mr and Mrs Gow, and the brother of Will (Adelaide), Lily (Mrs Thomas, New Zealand), Harry (returned), Daisy (Mrs Howard). “Duty nobly done.” “One of the bravest, truest and best” remembered Percy’s sister Daisy.

Percy John Gow is honoured on the Australian National War Memorial. His name is also inscribed on the honour roll at the Shrine in Surrey Gardens, Melbourne, as is his brother Harry’s. The Shrine, dedicated to the recruits from Surrey Hills and Mont Albert district who had gone to the war, was opened and the honour roll unveiled on 7 April 1918. A Memorial Cross to honour the men who had served was unveiled in Surrey Gardens in 1921. In his Will, Percy bequeathed £30 to Maud Ada Beamish, of Richmond; the balance of his estate to his mother. Percy was the beloved fiancé of Maud Beamish – “My hero”. He was a life-long friend of Maud’s brother Clarence. The Gow and Beamish lived very close together in Richmond. Percy was also the esteemed friend of Will Booth – “He gave his life for his country and freedom. No man can do more.” For many years – until her death in 1938 – Percy was “Ever remembered” by his mother and remembered too by Maud and her brother. (Maud who was born in 1884, married in 1940 and died in 1976.) Percy’s younger brother, Henry (Harry) James Gow, who was born in Dunedin, also served with the Australian Imperial Force. Suffering gunshot wounds, he had returned home to Australia in October 1917. Two nephews – Walter William Thomas and Percy James Thomas – served with the New Zealand Forces in World War Two and were overseas when their father died. They were sons of Lilian (Lily) Margaret Gow and William Thomas. Walter died at the age of 101.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [26 April 2015]; Attestation Paper for Australian Imperial Force (National Archives of Australia) [06 September 2013]; CWGC [27 August 2013]; Australian War Memorial - Roll of Honour [06 September 2013]; Australian Imperial Force - Nominal Roll [06 September 2013]; NZ BDM Historical Records (Department of Internal Affairs) [2013]; Australian & NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au); The Age (Melbourne), 18 & 20 May 1918, 27 May 1932, 27 May 1933, 27 May 1934, 27 May 1935, 27 May 1936, 27 May 1937, 27 May 1938 (Trove) [15 June 2026]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society

Currently Assigned to

TS