PROMOTING THE HISTORY AND ARCHIVES OF MT COMPASS
Rowland, Lorna
Lorna Jessie Rowland (Rank: Lieutenant)
Lorna has the honour of being the only woman on the Mt Compass-Nangkita Honour Roll.
She was born at Kadina on 31st January 1919 to parents Agnes Elizabeth (Bessie) Rowland (nee Corston) and Edward (Ted) Trustrail Rowland.
Pastor Bart Manning had settled this family on a block at the end of Berry Road at Mt Compass, as a way of assisting people during the 1930s depression. Ted and Bessie’s three children were all girls: Ruth, Rae & Lorna.
Their house was in the area known as the Lagoon, due to all the surface water (Berry Road is behind the strawberry farm).
The family had arrived from Mile End during the 1930s depression, with Lorna recalling to her family how during those tough years, their diet was primarily centred around potatoes.
Lorna attended the Mt Compass school from January 1931, after transferring from Thebarton Central school, where she had reached grade 7. She gained her qualifying certificate in 1931 and left school at the end of 1932.
Her sister Ruth would marry local man, Horrie Jacobs, with Lorna’s father Ted, building their house (with help from Horrie). This was on Lanacoona Road, close to Berry Road and is still an impressive home today.
Lorna started her nursing at the Royal Adelaide Hospital but received further training in Melbourne and worked
at a variety of places such as Alice Springs and Strathalbyn.
Lorna enlisted with the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) on 20th November 1941, aged 22 years. Although
already a qualified nursing Sister, Lorna was not called up for full time duty until October 1942 when she volunteered to serve in the AIF. Her permanent address at the time of enlisting was given as Mile End, the same address her father was now living at.
In November 1943, it was passed at the local Knitting Circle’s meeting that Lorna’s name be added to those from this district who would receive the Circle’s gift parcels. This group had been formed to provide comfort gifts to those serving in the war.
Lorna saw service in the Northern Territory, with her unit, the 109 Australian General Hospital (AGH) who took over the running of the Alice Springs Hospital in 1942. She also served at Heidelberg Military Hospital in Victoria before joining the 2/2 Australian Casualty Clearing Station (CCS) in March 1945. She served in the Pacific from June 1945, landing in Borneo on 27th July, one week after major combat operations had concluded on that recently captured Island. She returned to Australia on the 1st December that year and was discharged on 21st January 1946. Her home address was now listed as Gilberton.
While Lorna was serving overseas, she would meet her future husband, Doug Rosenthal, a sergeant with Lorna’s
casualty clearing station in Borneo. Following the war’s end, the couple lived at Glenunga, after marrying at Walkerville. They had two children, Jane and Mark, with Lorna returning to nursing when the children were older. She worked in both private and public hospitals as well as nursing homes.
Lorna’s family believe she contracted Dengue fever during her stint in the pacific, which may have weakened her heart. They suspect this contributed to Lorna passing at the relatively young age of 66 years on 26th September 1985. Doug survived until 2015, with both of them buried together in the RSL section at Centennial Park.
References: NAA Service Records, Jane Rosenthal, Mt Compass Archives Knitting Circle records, “Chasing Rainbows in the Rain” by Ann Riddle. http://www.ntlexhibit.nt.gov.au/items/show/1051
