Name
Hugh James Bowman
10/12/1893
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
10/01/1916
22
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Second Lieutenant
Duke of Cambridge’s Own (Middlesex Regiment)
16th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 /15 Star, British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
CAMBRIN MILITARY CEMETERY
E. 8.
France
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Aldenham School Memorial Aldenham, Hitchin Town Memorial, Holy Saviour Church War Memorial, Radcliffe Rd., Hitchin, Stained Glass Window, Hitchin Boys Grammar School, St Mary's Church Roll of Honour, Hitchin
Pre War
Hugh is recorded as born in Arlesey and registered third quarter on 1893. He was the second son of Ernest and Ellen Bowman ((née Smythe) who had married 26 April 1888
In 1901 Ernest and Ellen were living in West Mill House, between Hitchin and Ickleford. Ernest (40) was a flour miller and employer, working in the family business. The children were listed as: Ernest S (12), Doris Ellen (9), Hugh James (7) and Marjorie (5). Two servants were present too, Emily Watson and Lizzie Presland.
High was schooled at Hitchin Grammar and later Aldenham School, Aldenham, which is where he was listed in the 1911 census. His parents were listed at 44 The Avenue, Hitchin – Ernest still working in the family business. Of the 4 children they’d had, only Doris was present.
Hugh was said to be a quiet retiring boy at the Hitchin Grammar School, full of kindliness and good natured. It was said that a simple earnest spirit characterised his life both in Hitchin and in Aldenham, his other school. The School Attendance Register first mentions him in the 4th Lower Form in 1904 and he left the 5th Upper Form in 1907, which was before he went to Aldenham School.
Before joining up he worked for Lowe Bras and Sheepy Magna Mills of Atherstone in preparation for a career in the family milling business in Hitchin and Ickleford.
Wartime Service
He enlisted in October 1914 and was a Serjeant in the Middlesex Regiment before being commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the same regiment. He went to the front with the 16th (Public Schools) Battalion in November 1915.
A letter from Lieutenant Colonel J. Hamilton Hall the Commanding Officer of the 16th Battalion, dated 7th February 1916, said that he was on the Battalion Staff as Signalling and Intelligence Officer. During a slight bombardment the telephone lines were cut and Hugh went out personally to supervise the repair and during that time a shell burst close by and killed him and another man working alongside, wounding a third man. He went unconscious immediately and died without pain half an hour later. The letter added that he was a most valued officer who worked hard and loyally yet quietly and well, and that as a comrade nothing could have exceeded his bon homie and cheeriness. His signallers were devoted to him and very much felt the loss of him. His Commanding Officer concluded that he could have afforded to lose many others more easily.
The 16th Battalion, known as the ‘Public Schools’ Battalion, had landed at Boulogne on the 17th November 1915 and Hugh probably arrived with them. They were part of the 100th Brigade, 33rd Division. The Battalion had been formed on the 1st September 1914 by Lieut Colonel J.J. MacKay at 24, St. James St. in London and had been taken over by the War Office on the 10th August 1915.
The Battalion was on a tour of duty from the 4th January to the 14th January at Annequin North taking over trenches known as B.1. At the end of this period they marched back to Bethune having lost 2nd Lieut Bowman and of Other Ranks, eleven killed and twenty-four wounded.
Additional Information
Hugh is also commemorated on a headstone in Hitchin Cemetery. His inscription reads:
ALSO OF
HUGH JAMES BOWMAN BORN DEC. 10TH 1853
KILLED IN FRANCE JAN 10TH. 1916
BIRIED AT CAMBRIN
HUGH JAMES BOWMAN BORN DEC. 10TH 1853
KILLED IN FRANCE JAN 10TH. 1916
BIRIED AT CAMBRIN
Acknowledgments
Neil Cooper
David C Baines, Jonty Wild
