Rowley was wounded in action (gas) in France on 24 April 1918.   He was admitted to hospital (gassed) first at Rouen 26 April 1918, then Portsmouth 29 April 1918, on to Dartford 24 May 1918, and finally to Weymouth 21 August 1918.  Rowley was invalided back to Australia aboard H.M.T. Sardinia