Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War I (1914-1918)

Date of Enlistment

14/08/1914

Date of Discharge

13/05/1919

Place of Enlistment

Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

13/07/1893

Place of Birth

Kew, Victoria

Address (at enlistment)

Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT

Occupation

Soldier

Next of Kin

Thomas Vowles (father), Melbourne, Victoria

Final Rank

Major

Final Unit

AIF Headquarters AIF

Military Cross (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette 4 October 1917, page 2627, position 35),
Mention in Despatches (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette 29 June 1917, page 1391, position 108)

Vowles entered the Royal Military College on 22 June 1911 in the first intake of cadets and was a member of the Honour Guard at the naming ceremony in Canberra on 12 March 1913. His class was graduated early on 14 August 1914 and Vowles was commissioned as a Lieutenant with the 8th Battery, 3rd Field Artillery Brigade. He served on Gallipoli from the time of the landing as a forward observation officer directing ships fire on to Turkish targets. For his work he received a special mention in Divisional Orders for acts of gallantry between 6 May and 28 June 1915. After the evacuation from Gallipoli he was posted to the 49th Battery, 15th Field Artillery Brigade (part of the 5th Division) in Egypt and was promoted to Captain shortly after.

By the end of June the 5th Division had moved to France and Vowles' battery would fight in the Battle of Fromelles in July 1916. During 1917 he was posted to 5th Division Headquarters and the 1st Anzac Corps as Staff Captain. In August 1917 he joined the 54th Battery, 14th Field Artillery Brigade and commanded the battery during the fighting around Ypres, Belgium until October when he was gassed and hospitalised in England. In 1918 he joined the 12th Field Artillery Brigade before being attached to the Hants Battery, Royal Horse Artillery in Egypt for Administrative purposes. After the war he was an instructor in artillery at RMC and from 1921 to 1925 served as brigade major of the 2nd Division Artillery in Sydney. He served in various staff positions around Australia until 1939 when he became Director of Military Art at RMC. During World War 2 he served in New Guinea and Bougainville. Vowles Road in Duntroon is named after him. He died in Adelaide on 28 September 1967.

Description - height 5 feet 7¾ inches, weight 148 pounds, chest 35½ -39 inches, brown complexion, blue eyes, dark hair, Presbyterian, two scars outside of his right leg, four vaccination marks on right arm.

Colonel J.E. Lee, 'Duntroon: The Royal Military College of Australia 1911-1946', 1952
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)
NAA RecordSearch - Series B883 (Second Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1939-1947)
Stories from the ACT Memorial, 'The Honour Guard at the Canberra Commencement Ceremony', ACT Heritage Library www.library.act.gov.au/find/history/stories_from_the_act_memorial
Queanbeyan Age - 11 November 1919