Unit |
4th Field
Company Engineers |
Rank |
Lieutenant |
Date of Enlistment |
21 June
1915 |
Service no. |
- |
Date of Death |
29 October 1915 |
Place of Death |
Tunnel
C2, gas poisoning from a mine explosion |
Age |
28 |
|
|
Cemetery |
Shrapnel Valley |
Details |
II B 7 |
Epitaph |
He
Offered All That We Might Live |
Next of Kin |
(Wife)
BOWRA Minnie (nee Salter) |
Address |
56
Farnley St, Mount Lawley WA |
Parents |
Frederick
James and Maria Jane Bowra |
Address |
44 Alma
Rd, North Perth WA |
Date of Birth |
9 October
1887 |
Place of birth |
WA Perth |
General |
"In some reports, references are made
to a number of Australians who were “gassed” on the peninsular. These,
however, were men who were injured by the poisonous gases following the
explosion of some of our own mines. If a mine, when fired, did not
break through satisfactorily to the open air or to the enemy’s workings,
the poisonous gas left by the explosion remained in the tunnel,
endangering the life of anyone who entered it. For example, on Oct. 29,
in order to make sure that a working party might safely enter Tunnel C2,
in which a mine had just been fired, Lieut. F. D. A. Bowra (or
Perth) of the 4th Fld. Coy. went down the rope ladder in the shaft
leading to it. He had warned Lieut. E. T. Bazeley (of Nagambie, Vic.)
of the 22nd Bn. that there might be danger from poisonous gases, and as
he did not return Bazeley and a man named Currington (of Annandale,
N.S.W.) went down with a rope. They found Bowra collapsed, but
before they could rescue him both were overcome. Bazeley had barely
strength to climb the ladder; Currington began to climb and fell back.
Maj. Newcombe and Lieut. Thom were summoned from the 4th Coy.’s H.Q.,
and Thom, refusing to be tied to the rope, went down, but collapsed
before he could save Bowra. The gas was now coming up the
shaft. Cpls. J. A. Park (of Sydney), C. F. Mills (of Sydney), W. Bowden
(of Geelong, Vic.), J. Shaw (of Kalgoorlie, W. Aust.), and others went
down, but Thom, Bowra, Currington and two other men of the 22nd,
Pte. W. B. S. Good (of Wonthaggi, Vic) and Pte. G. Stelling (of
Essendon, Vic.) died, and Col. G. C. E. Elliott, chief engineer of the
division, Maj. S. F. Newcombe, and twelve others were seriously
“gassed.” (Currington had five brothers serving at the war.). A
similar accident had occurred shortly before in a mine-gallery at
Russell’s Top, where an officer of the 5th Field Coy., Lieut. E. J.
Howells (of Camberwell, Vic), became unconscious, but was dragged out by
Cpl. J. H. Precious (of Melbourne), who himself collapsed just as he
reached safety. Both survived."
The
Official History of Australia in the war of 1914 – 1918. The Story of
Anzac. Volume 2. C. E. W. Bean.
University of Queensland Press, page 823. (source 1) |
|
|
Other Sources |
|
|
|
|
|
Photo |
|
|
- The Western
Mail newspaper, 26 November 1915, page 26,
(source 52)
|
|
|
Photo |
|
|
The Melbourne Herald Newspaper, 18 December 1915, page 7
(source 95) |
|
|
Photo |
|
|
The Sunday Times, WA Newspaper, 21 November 1915, page 17
(source 35) |
|
|
Newspaper article |
|
|
The
Western Mail Newspaper, 12 November 1915, page 31 (source
52) |
|
|
Newspaper article |
|
|
The Melbourne Herald Newspaper, 11 December 1915, page 1
(source 95) |
|
|
Newspaper article |
|
|
The Melbourne Herald Newspaper, 18 December 1915, page 7
(source 95) |
|
|
Family details |
|
|
Spirits of
Gallipoli |
|
|
Headstone |
|
|
Gallipoli Photographic Expedition, 2009 (source 183) |
|
|
Notes |
|
|
WALKER, R W, To what end did they die? Officers died at
Gallipoli, page 61
(source 127) |
|
|
Various |
|
|
King's Park Avenue of Honour, Perth WA (source 146) |
|
|
Various |
|
|
Guildford War Memorial, WA (source 146) |
|
|
Various |
|
|
Guildford War Memorial, WA (source 146) |
|
|
Various |
|
|
Guildford War Memorial, WA (source 146) |
|
|
Various |
|
|
Guildford War Memorial, WA (source 146) |
|
|
Various |
|
|
Australian War Memorial, ACT, Panel 23 (source 14) |
|
|