Name
Robert Dowling
9 Aug 1892
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
30/07/1916
24
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
875
Royal Warwickshire Regiment
14th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 /15 Star, British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
LONDON CEMETERY AND EXTENSION, LONGUEVAL
2.K.11.
France
Headstone Inscription
"TO LIVE IN THE HEARTS OF THOSE WE LOVE IS NOT TO DIE"
UK & Other Memorials
Harpenden Town Memorial, Church of St Nicholas Memorial, Harpenden
Pre War
Robert was born in Harpenden on 9 Aug 1892 the only son of John Dowling, a Family Grocer, and Sophia (nee Stockham).
On the 1911 Census Robert was an Architects and Surveyors Assistant and living with his mother (father visiting family in Andover, Hants) and two sisters at Laurel Villa, Cowper road, Harpenden.
Wartime Service
He was enlisted in the 14 (Service) Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment as Private 875. Robert went to France on 21 Nov 1915 along with his Battalion.
In July 1916 during the battle to secure Delville Wood on the Somme, Robert was posted as missing and later presumed killed in action on 30 July 1916. His remains were not discovered until 1956 when he was identified properly and re-interred in London Cemetery, Longueval.
Additional Information
His headstone inscription reads: "TO LIVE IN THE HEARTS OF THOSE WE LOVE IS NOT TO DIE"
Acknowledgments
Neil Cooper
Jonty Wild, Mary Skinner, Harpenden & District Local History Society (www.harpenden-history.org.uk)
