No.9409, Lance Corporal, Percy William BOWMAN
Aged 23
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Born in Newmarket in Q1-1892, [Newmarket 3b:515]. Eldest son and one of 8 children of John Henry and Lizzie BOWMAN (née MASKELL), once of 5 Shaves Cottages,
Exning Road, Newmarket, then of 57 St.Phillips Road, Newmarket.
1901 census...Percy [9] was at 57 St Philip's Road, Newmarket with his father John H [33], stableman born Newmarket; his mother Lizzie [33] born Burwell and sisters Florence F [10]; Nellie [6]; Lily [2] and brother Harry [7]. All the children were Newmarket born. 1911 census...Percy [19] was now a butcher, still at home, at 3 Foulden Terrace, Exning Road, Newmarket, with his parents, brother Henry John and sisters Ellen Mary 'Nellie' and Lily Hester and new siblings, Arthur George [9], Charles Richard [7] and Lizzie [4], all Newmarket born. As he is on a memorial to the missing, it appears his original grave was lost in later fighting. His entry in "Our Exning Heroes" reads: Bowman, Percy William ...Suffolks "Born in Exning Road in 1891.Educated at S.Mary's School and went to Mr Musk's, Butcher. There he was when war broke out, and he joined up in the 7th Suffolks on August 18th,1914. He went to France about May,1915, and was in most of the early fighting of that summer and autumn, being very badly wounded, from which he died not many hours after - before he got to hospital He was a regular attendant at S.Philip's Church and Sunday School, and entered into the parochial life of the Church. Also a member of the choir". |
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The 7th Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment arrived at Loos on the last day of September, taking over trenches on the rim of the Chalk Pit which had been
captured in the main attack. They came under a heavy artillery fire which buried many of them. In the afternoon of the 13th October the 7th attacked
trenches held by the Germans known as the Hairpin. "B" Coy.advanced across the open under cover of a smoke screen but the smoke lifted and the men were caught
in the open by machine gun fire, suffering 75 casualties. "A" and "D" companies attacked the Hairpin itself. They met heavy opposition and suffered many
casualties. It is not known which company Percy was with. The 7th battalion had 51 killed that day, not one has a known grave, all are commemorated on the Loos Memorial. |
click here to go to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website for full cemetery/memorial details