William Bowen by Sahib Kaur

 

William Bowen was born on the 15th of September 1921. He enlisted in the war in South Australia, Dayville to be exact but he later fought over Australia, including the bombing of Darwin. His original occupation, prior to joining the army was a dairy farmer. He worked on his uncle’s Donald Charles Dairy Farm before joining the army. I found his story interesting since you could see that he was an ordinary man with an ordinary profession, yet he joined the army during the war and served in such high-risk areas. He showed ANZAC Spirit characteristics, specifically bravery and courage, like many of his fellow soldiers he was an ordinary man. Many of them often with no military service or experience which shows an immense amount of courage and strength. William was a trooper in the war. A trooper is a private type of soldier in an armoured unit. He transferred from different units during his time serving in the war, including the 2/9th Australian Armoured Regiment Group. He was discharged as a trooper on the 3rd of December 1945 and continued to live until November. William was married to a woman named Maxine Green and they had four children: John, Marian, Gregory and Janeen. Despite the lack of information, the reason I wanted to look into William Bowen’s story was of how it showed that the war was an opportunity for men from all industries to join and fight for their country. I think it is often forgotten that these soldiers were simply like us, with common jobs such as a dairy farmer.