West Torrens footballer Dave Low’s determination extended from field to trenches – ‘a great favourite’ killed in action

DAVE Low was one of the best footballers of his time but when World War I broke out in Europe he answered the nation’s call to arms.

Footballer Dave Low 1912 Magarey Medallist. 1910s p/

IN SEPTEMBER 1912, West Torrens defender Dave Low appeared destined for a long and successful football career.

The 24-year-old had won a Magarey Medal and led South Australia to victory over Victoria.

Renowned for his fair play and consistency, the popular Low was hailed by The Adelaide Advertiser as “without contest the best backman in the league”.

Yet as Low’s football continued to blossom through 1913/14, events in Europe were about to change, and ultimately end, his young life.

Low enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in July 1915, a year after World War I erupted.

Two months later, the Broken Hill native – who worked as a machinist at the Islington workshops – boarded the HMAT Geelong, bound for Egypt.

Low was posted to the 32nd Battalion and embarked for France in June 1916.

In its first major battle at Fromelles on July 19, the battalion attacked a German stronghold known as the Sugarloaf.

During the battle, the 8th and 14th Australian brigades captured small parts of enemy trenches, but without support and subject to heavy German counterattacks, they were forced back.

The Australians suffered 5533 casualties in one night.

War historian Ross McMullin described it as the “worst 24 hours in Australia’s entire history”.

The 32nd Battalion suffered 718 casualties – nearly 90 per cent of its fighting strength.

Dave Low was among those wounded.

He was sent to London’s Edmonton Military Hospital, where he was treated for shrapnel wounds to his left shoulder and a gunshot wound to his right side.

Hospital records show that despite his ailing condition, Low was “always happy and cheerful” and a “great favourite” among the other wounded soldiers.

Yet when gangrene set in on August 1, Low’s doctors realised his case was hopeless.

Low, 28, died on August 4, 1916 and was buried in “Heroes Corner” of Tottenham Cemetery in London.

His 1912 Magarey Medal has never been found.

Originally published as West Torrens footballer Dave Low’s determination extended from field to trenches – ‘a great favourite’ killed in action