Family at War: Part 2: Charles Bowyer

The next subject in this WW1 themed series is my great-great uncle, Charles Bowyer, son of my maternal great-great grandfather, also Charles Bowyer. I know very little about the personal details of Charles Jnr but I do know that he was born in Old Sodbury, Gloucestershire, in 1888 and was, according to Cousin Beattie (who was in her late 90's when I talked with her many years ago), "a nice quiet boy". I also know that he crossed the Atlantic in 1911, leaving Avonmouth in the SS Royal George on 22nd February and arriving in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on 1st March. His immigration papers suggests that his final destination was Montreal but, after that, the trail goes cold. I've got no idea what he did in Canada: perhaps he followed his stated occupation of 'motor car driver'?

Whatever happened in between, Charles returned to the UK (Was he answering the patriotic call to arms?) to enlist in the 1/4th (City of Bristol) Battalion of the Gloucester Regiment. The date of his enlistment is unknown but, as the entry on his Medal Roll Card shows, he was certainly with them when his Battalion entered the French Theatre of War at Boulogne on 31st March 1915. After a relatively quiet 1915, the 1/4th Battalion had a horrendous 1916, taking a full part in all aspects of the Battle of the Somme and suffering heavy casualties in the process. Sadly Charles was killed at the very end of the Battle of the Somme, on 6th November, when the 1/4th was operating in the Bazentin Le Petit/Martinpuch area. The Battalion war diary does not suggest any significant contact with the enemy at the time and it is likely that Charles was killed during the sporadic shelling of trenches that was a regular feature of frontline life. His body was not recovered and he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial - the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme. He is also listed on the Westbury-upon-Tryme War Memorial, which was where his mother was living at the time of his death.

Where are his medals? Hopefully still with a family member somewhere. He did leave a will and his mother received his estate of £200, worth around £10,000 at present day values. But this would have been of little comfort to her as, going back to Cousin Beattie's recollections, "she never got over the death of her beloved son".
  

Not a good photograph and not one that enlarges with any clarity. Which is a shame as it is the only one I can find of the 1/4th Battalion on the Somme. It was taken in June 1916 and shows the men posing with some captured armaments. The chances are that Charles in there somewhere but which one?



Westbury-upon-Tryme War Memorial on which Charles is listed.

Charles's Medal Roll card showing his entry date into France and his posthumous medal entitlement. His fate is acknowledged with the terse 'KIA'. Killed in action.

An extract from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission record.

A copy of the probate entry covering Charles' will and estate.