{"id":391,"date":"2014-11-05T12:50:41","date_gmt":"2014-11-05T12:50:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/plattwarmemorial.org\/?page_id=391"},"modified":"2024-05-23T14:08:24","modified_gmt":"2024-05-23T14:08:24","slug":"john-william-bowen-1889-1917","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/world-war-one\/john-william-bowen-1889-1917\/","title":{"rendered":"John William Bowen (1888 &#8211; 1917)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);background-position: center center;background-repeat: no-repeat;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;margin-bottom: 0px;margin-top: 0px;border-width: 0px 0px 0px 0px;border-color:#eae9e9;border-style:solid;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-one-full fusion-column-first fusion-column-last\" style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-flex-column-wrapper-legacy\" style=\"background-position:left top;background-repeat:no-repeat;-webkit-background-size:cover;-moz-background-size:cover;-o-background-size:cover;background-size:cover;padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px;\"><style type=\"text\/css\"><\/style><div class=\"fusion-title title fusion-title-1 fusion-sep-none fusion-title-text fusion-title-size-three\" style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:31px;margin-left:0px;\"><h3 class=\"title-heading-left fusion-responsive-typography-calculated\" style=\"margin:0;--fontSize:24;line-height:1.5;\">Gnr John William Bowen (1888 &#8211; 1917)<\/h3><\/div><span class=\" fusion-imageframe imageframe-dropshadow imageframe-1 hover-type-zoomin\" style=\"-webkit-box-shadow: 3px 3px 7px rgba(0,0,0,0.3);box-shadow: 3px 3px 7px rgba(0,0,0,0.3);margin-right:25px;float:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/john_william_bowen.jpg\" class=\"fusion-lightbox\" data-rel=\"iLightbox[8d9525b910df155f936]\" data-title=\"John William Bowen (1889 &#8211; 1917)\" title=\"John William Bowen (1889 &#8211; 1917)\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"221\" height=\"300\" src=\"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/john_william_bowen-221x300.jpg\" alt class=\"img-responsive wp-image-395\" srcset=\"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/john_william_bowen-221x300.jpg 221w, http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/john_william_bowen-640x867.jpg 640w, http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/john_william_bowen.jpg 738w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 221px) 100vw, 221px\" \/><\/a><\/span><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\"><p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">John William Bowen was born in Wrotham Heath on\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">4 December<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a01888, the second of eight children and eldest son of William George Bowen, a brickyard labourer, and his wife, Minnie Gertrude (n\u00e9e Heaver.) He attended Platt\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">School,<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0and lived with his family in the Railway Cottages, which\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">were demolished<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0in the late 1930s. On\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">26 December<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> 1912 in Barming, John married a postman\u2019s daughter from Maidstone named Fanny Hyland, and a son was born the following year. At the time, John was working as a quarryman at one of the local quarries and shortly before the war, he moved with his family to Ivy Cottage in West Farleigh.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">John became the second of his four brothers to\u00a0enlist, signing up with the artillery at Bromley on\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">6 January<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a01915. On\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">26 October<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, he was sent to Gallipoli, where he joined the 59th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, which formed part of the 11th Division.\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">After the\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">withdrawal from the peninsula<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0at the start of 1916, John was sent to Egypt and became part of a force that took over a section of the Suez Canal defences at Sidi Bishr.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In June 1916, orders\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">were received<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0to proceed to France, and the brigade subsequently arrived on the Somme at the end of July. For the remainder of the year, John, who was a brigade signaller, was likely present at the capture of the Wundt-Werk, The Battle of Flers-Courcelette and The Battle of Thiepval, which were all phases of the Battle of the Somme.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In 1917, his battery took part in further operations on the Ancre before heading into Flanders for the Battle of Messines, after which John was given ten days leave. On arrival back at the front, he joined \u2018A\u2019 Battery. John found himself back in action at the Battles of Polygon Wood and Broodseinde before engaging the enemy again at the Battle of Poelcappelle &#8211; the last in a series of attacks made by the British during the Third Battle of Ypres and, tragically, the final engagement in which he would take part as he\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">was killed<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0by shellfire on\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">10 October<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Following John\u2019s death, his wife received the following letter:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Dear Mrs Bowen,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">I greatly regret to have to write and tell you that your husband\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">was killed<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0by a shell on the\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">10th\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">October<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">He was killed<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0instantaneously. His loss is quite irreparable, and we all feel it very much.\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">He was just one of the\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">very best, quite<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0fearless and\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">absolutely<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0trustworthy in the\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">most hard<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0and unpleasant jobs.<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0As you will know, he was a\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">signaller,<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0and was picked as one of the three best to go forward into the German lines with the infantry as our officer\u2019s signaller a day or two before. The signallers and all of us have lost one of the stoutest and most popular friends, who will never\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">quite<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">be replaced<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">It is the death of such a man that makes me\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">at<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">times<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0hate the war.<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0I must end now.\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">I cannot say how I sympathise with you in your loss<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, and everyone joins with<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0me in sending their deepest sympathy\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">with<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0you.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">John\u2019s grave is in Bard Cottage Cemetery, close to Ypres on the Yser Canal.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":53,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-391","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/391\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10265,"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/391\/revisions\/10265"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/53"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}