The Soldier's Details

Bow enlisted AIF 1 Aug 1940 later joined ‘D’ Company Headquarters as a Driver.  In Singapore when a further Platoon was created to support another Vickers Gun, Bow was moved to No. 15 Platoon.

He was wounded in action at Buona Vista on 15/2/1942. Admitted to 2/13th Australian General Hospital on 16/2/1942 with shrapnel wounds to the left and right buttocks. Discharged to unit on 22/2/1942.

Bow later left Singapore to work on Burma-Thai Railway with ‘D’ Force Thailand V Battalion.  Please read further about this Battalion.

Wally survived the Railway, and at the end of 1943 the Japanese began moving all POWs south to one of several large camps and hospitals where the men could be treated and recover.  He got a job working at truck depot near Bangkok with two other 2/4th men, Swift and Manthorpe.  This placement was far better than being sent on work parties throughout Thailand.

 

Isuzu Type 94 specifications

Dimensions:    5.4 x 1.9 x 2.7m

Total Weight:    3.5-4.8 tons (1.5 tons payload)

Crew:    1 (Plus infantry platoon)

Propulsion:    Gasoline Engine (Ko Model) or Otsu Diesel Engine 43hp/1,500rpm or 68hp/2,800rpm

Top Speed:    45-60 km/hour

Total Production:    Unknown – possibly 5000 + 1934-45

Japan began motorising its army and create motorised infantry regiments to go with its newly formed armoured regiments. Gradually, and especially until the end of the 1930s for operations in China, the Army purchased a variety of trucks to carry troops and supplies. This increased in WW2 with a variety of lorries and trucks built by mostly by Toyota, Nissan and Isuzu. These were the Type 94 6-Wheeled Truck, Type 95 Mini-truck, Type 97 4-Wheeled Truck, Type 1 6-Wheeled Truck and Type 2 Heavy Truck for the latter, and Toyota KB/KC Truck, Nissan 80 and 180 Trucks, plus the Amphibious Truck Toyota “Su-Ki”

Development of the Type 94

The Type 94 was initially developed in 1933 as part of the Imperial Japanese Army’s program to sponsor independent motor companies, in order to provide the army with a reliable truck platform. This was to counter the already tested existing civilian lorries which had poor performance in the field. Isuzu showed their design and a prototype was tested and eventually accepted in 1934. This sturdy 6×6 configuration gave all satisfaction in terms of range, reliability, and most important, off-road capabilities.

Design of the Type 94

The Type 94 was a 6×6 army truck design, fitted with an Otsu diesel engine that was capable of propelling it at speeds of up to 60 km/h while preserving range. The vehicle itself neither unarmed and unarmored, but carried two spare tires on the side for maintenance. The crew comprised single driver and the practical payload was 1,300 kgs of cargo, or and infantry platoon. Total weight was around 4,800 kilograms, total length 5.3 metres. Its army requirements design made it, unlike its civilian-based predecessors, highly reliable in the field and very capable of traveling cross country, helped also by a high clearance, to traverse the rough jungle terrain where it mostly served. Variants built during the war included an optional gasoline engine, a soft top and hard top conversions for the driver cabin roof.

 

 

 

Wally remained in Thailand and was recovered from there at the end of the war.

Wally’s mate George Kidd died of illness at Kanchanaburi, Thailand in 1943.

 

 

 

 

Walter Verdun was the sixth child born Perth 1916 to parents Harry Bow and Rachel Watts who married 1903.

 

Rachel’s brother enlisted WW1, William Henry Watts later married in England 1919 to Ivy Bow. (It is unknown if Ivy Bow and Harry Bow are related – Harry’s father was one of 17 children or it may have been a coincidence).

William Henry known as ‘Dick’ Watts returned to WA after the end of war with his wife Ivy.  However we believe Ivy and ‘Dick’ may have returned to live in England.  William Henry Watts  who was about 6 years younger than Rachel, died in about 1927.  He suffered from gas poisoning and was earlier, in 1916 bitten by a camel in Egypt.  He was hospitalised for many months as the camel bite on his leg became seriously infected.  He suffered long term tendon injuries.

Father of Rachel Bow and Grandfather to Wally, died in 1921.

Wally Bow spent his formative years at Bruce Rock.

 

Wally was 7 years of age when his parents divorced in 1923. His father Harry Bow remarried in 1924 to Annie Wilson.  Harry and Annie had an additional two daughters.   Wally’s mother Rachel Isabella Bow (nee Watts) remarried Alfred Lambert in 1925.

Rachel Isabella Watts was born on 30 September 1884 in Wandering,  her father, George Watts, aged 52, and her mother Jane Isabella Pollard was 27. She married Harry Bow and they had seven children together. She then married Alfred Ernest Lambert and they had three children together.

 

Above & Below:  Harry & Fannie Bow

 

Below:  Wally’s mother died 1942 aged 57 years.

Above:  The Bow property is being auctioned in 1952.

In 1949 Electoral Roll Walter and Patricia were residing at Kalgoorlie.

In 1950 Wally Bow’s father died.

Above:  Walter learns he has been awarded a War Service Farm.

In the 1958 and 1963 Electoral Rolls, Walter and Patricia were recorded farming at Bindi Bindi.

In 1972 the couple had moved to Kewdale.  In 1977 and 1980 they were residing at Karrinyup.

It is believed they had a son and daughter.

Wally Bow died 2 February 1984 at Bentley aged 67 years.  His wife Patricia died 2011 at Murdoch aged 87 years.

Please read about the Boys from Bruce Rock