Cadet Joseph Lowrie

Cadet Joseph Lowrie, Merchant Navy. He was lost at sea aboard the S.S. “Benalbanach”, aged 17, on 7th January 1943. He was the son of George and Jessie Lowrie of Monksford Stables, Newton St. Boswells and is commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial, London. The ship was a 7,152 ton passenger/cargo ship launched in June 1940 and owned by the Ben Line of Leith. On 7th January 1943 she was part of convoy KMS-6  and was carrying 389 men of a Motor Transport Unit and a crew of 74 to Bona in North Africa. She was attacked by a single enemy aircraft  North West of Algiers and hit by two torpedoes. The ship caught fire, blew up and sank almost immediately. 57 crew members and 353 army personnel were lost with only about 50 survivors.