Albert David "Alby" Lowerson, VC (2 August 1896 – 15 December 1945) was an Australian recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

forces.

Early life

Albert Lowerson, nicknamed Alby, was born in

Myrtleford Myrtleford is a town in northeast Victoria, Australia, 280 km (170 miles) northeast of Melbourne and 46 km (29 miles) southeast of Wangaratta. Myrtleford is part of the Alpine Shire local government area and in 2016 the town had a po ...

, a town in the state of Victoria, on 2 August 1896. His father worked for the railways as an engine driver but later turned his hand to farming. Lowerson worked as a gold miner after leaving school.

First World War

In July 1915, Lowerson joined the Australian Imperial Force. After initial training, he embarked for the Middle East in September 1915 as a reinforcement for 21st Battalion. He arrived too late to participate in the Gallipoli Campaign and in March 1916 proceeded with his battalion to the Western Front. He fought in the Battles of the Somme,

Pozières Pozières (; ) is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography The commune is situated on the D929 road, northeast of Amiens between Albert and Bapaume, on the Pozières ridge. Southwest of the village on ...

and Mouquet Farm, the latter of which saw him wounded. He was also recommended for the

Military Medal The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land. The award ...

for his work at Pozières but this was not awarded. After a month recovering from his wounds he rejoined his battalion and shortly afterwards was promoted to

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non ...

. Promoted in April 1917 to acting

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

, he was again wounded, this time during the

Second Battle of Bullecourt The Battle of Arras (also known as the Second Battle of Arras) was a British offensive on the Western Front during the First World War. From 9 April to 16 May 1917, British troops attacked German defences near the French city of Arras on the Wes ...

. Lowerson's promotion to sergeant was made permanent while he was still recovering from his wounding at Bullecourt. He rejoined his battalion in November 1917. On 1 September 1918, during the

Battle of Mont St Quentin The Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin was a battle on the Western Front during World War I. As part of the Allied Hundred Days Offensive on the Western Front in the late summer of 1918, the Australian Corps crossed the Somme River on the night of 31 ...

, 21st Battalion supported 23rd and 24th Battalions in an attack towards the village of Mont St Quentin. Lowerson's company was held up in its advance on the flank of the village and, with a party of seven men, attacked and captured a strong point from which heavy machinegun fire was directed towards the advancing Australians. The advance was able to continue. Lowerson, wounded, was sent to the rear but it was a further two days before he was dispatched to a hospital. After his wounding at St Quentin, Lowerson returned to his unit in September 1918 but received his fourth wound the following month and took no further part in the war. The award of his VC for his actions at St Quentin was gazetted on 14 December 1918 and he was presented with it by

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

on 1 March 1919. The citation for his VC read:

Later life and legacy

Lowerson left for Australia in April 1919 and was discharged from the AIF three months later. Like his father, Lowerson became a farmer and worked a block of land, which he named St. Quentin, near Myrtleford and which he converted to tobacco and dairy. He married in 1930 and had a daughter. After the outbreak of the Second World War, he rejoined the Australian Army but his old war wounds confined him to service on the home front as a sergeant with a number of training battalions. He was serving with 2/8 Training Battalion when he was discharged from service in 1944 but became ill with leukemia the following year. He died on 15 December 1945. Buried in Myrtleford, he was survived by his wife and daughter. On 23 April 2015 a memorial statue was unveiled in Myrtleford. Lowerson's VC is held at the

Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in wars involving the Commonwealth of Australia and some conflicts involving pe ...

in Canberra. He was also entitled for the 1914–15 Star, the

British War Medal The British War Medal is a campaign medal of the United Kingdom which was awarded to officers and men of British and Imperial forces for service in the First World War. Two versions of the medal were produced. About 6.5 million were struck in si ...

and the Victory Medal.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lowerson, Albert David 1896 births 1945 deaths Military personnel from Victoria (Australia) Australian Army soldiers Australian farmers Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross People from Myrtleford Deaths from leukemia Deaths from cancer in Victoria (Australia)