Anzac Day: Pilot dives into duty
22Apr08
Ray Rowe.
War veteran Ray Rowe. Picture: MATTHEW MURPHY N43HT900
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AT some point on Anzac Day morning Ray Rowe will sit down to eat a hearty breakfast.
But that won't be until he has ensured that the 200-plus guests at the Williamstown RSL Club have been fed first.
It's of little consequence to Mr Rowe that he is an 86-year-old war veteran who, after attending the 6am stand-to at Williamstown's cenotaph, should be among those most deserving of a chair and a decent feed at the Ferguson St club.
Instead, Mr Rowe will help oversee the free hospitality the Williamstown RSL extends to everyone who joins in the Anzac Day service.
Mr Rowe is proud and humble to be the club's senior vice-president (and former president).
It's the same sentiment he shows when speaking of the years he spent fighting for his country during World War II.
"It was my place to go (to war)," Mr Rowe simply states.
Starting as a leading aircraftsman (LAC) with the RAAF, he spent almost four years in service, eventually living the uncertain life of a battle-weary fighter pilot.
"When I got into the air force I thought to myself, there's two ways of doing things there's the easy way and the hard way.
"If you go and make the best of it, it's easier," Mr Rowe said.
"And when I went to New Guinea I thought, I'll follow the same principle. So I tried to make it as easy as possible. You just had to accept it."
In 1941, after completing his rookie training near Hamilton in country Victoria, 22-year-old Mr Rowe was posted to 5 Squadron an army co-operation unit based at Toowoomba in Queensland, overseeing the mapping of areas vital to the defence of the north.
In 1942 he was posted to the fighter unit 30 Squadron and sent to Port Moresby, New Guinea, for about seven months. Then it was over to Kiriwina to the headquarters of the 73 Fighter Wing attached to US heavy bomber command with four squadrons of Kittyhawks and one of Spitfires.
Mr Rowe's job was to rendezvous with the US heavy bombers and escort them as they flew between Port Moresby and Rabaul up to 100 aircraft each day.
By 1944, the air protection had extended to Manus Island, but Mr Rowe had served more than 20 months in New Guinea so was posted back home.
A little over a month's leave and it was off to operational training in Mildura for five months, then Sydney, then back to New Guinea.
Mr Rowe's main job this time with 6 Squadron was anti-submarine duties. He was at a place called Kranket Island, off the coast of Madang, when news of war's end came through on "Wireless Port Moresby".
"I was excited and relieved," Mr Rowe said. "And I started to think about what I would do when I got home."
His homecoming had to wait until January 1945, but he promptly married Gwen and soon made a new life in Williamstown working in the tanneries before retiring 45 years later.
Mr Rowe speaks with pride of his daughter and two sons, and thoroughly enjoys being a grandfather to five and great-grandfather to the family's latest addition.
Family connections also run deep at the recently renovated Williamstown RSL Club, with Mr Rowe's nephew looking after the club's busy music calendar.
"This is a terrific club," Mr Rowe says. "We have some really good days here."
He's hoping this year's Anzac Day turnout is as popular as last year's the biggest crowd Williamstown had seen.
"The amazing thing was how many children there were," he said.
"(And) the people of Williamstown are so generous," Mr Rowe said, referring to the donations made as he sells Anzac Day badges outside the Coles supermarket.
"I love it here. It's God's little acre."
