| Surname: | Bowes |
| Initials: | O |
| Rank: | Acting Sergeant |
| Army Number: | 797 |
| Notes: | MMP. Later A/Sgt. From Pickering. Awarded 1914 Star, Victory and War Medal. First served abroad, (1) France, 15/8/1914. 28/10/1905 he enlisted as a Pte 5 Lancers, No. 7157, born Pickering, Yorkshire, occupation Groom, address: Thornhill Farm, Easingwold, Yorkshire, father William, Kirby Misperton, Pickering, Yorkshire. 5/9/1906 to the 12 Lancers, No. 5915, 31/12/1908 to 15 Hussars, 26/4/1913 to MMP, 24/9/1918 promoted T/Sgt, 13/4/1917 3 TC Sqn, 14/7/1917 61 Division Served Home 28/10/1905 to 4/9/1906, India 5/9/1906 to 14/10/1909, South Africa 15/10/1909 to 17/1/1913, Home 18/1/1913 to 4/8/1914, BEF 15/8/1914 to 9/6/1919, Home 20/6/1919 to 19/1/1919 to class Z reserve. Oliver Bowes. Extract from the Sheffield Times 28 November 1914. FLAMBOROUGH. A letter from the Front - Mrs. G. Cross of the Woodbine Cottage, Flamborough, has received a letter from her brother, Oliver Bowes, who went to France at the commencement of the war and is now serving as a Corporal in the Military Mounted Police. For some years he served in the 12th Lancers in India and also in the 15th Hussars in South Africa. Corporal Bowes is a son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Bowes, of Kirby Misperton where he was well known. He says:- "We have had the hardest fight in the last ten days or fortnight, which has taken place since we came out. It has been hell, but I am pleased to say that we have held the enemy and driven them back a mile or two. Because they cannot get the town (I am sending a view of it), they have been shelling that now and almost smashed it up and are not doing us a bit of harm by it. It is a shame the way it has been destroyed - just for spite! We suffered but their losses must be awful - mown down like a lot of sheep. They have to climb over their fallen to get near. I did not, at first believe half the tales which we hav heard about them, but I do now. Extract from the Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette 30 November 1914. The Kaiser's Bodyguard - Its Fate. Corporal Oliver Bowes, of the Military Mounted Police, writing from the front to his sister Mona, who is a maid to Mrs. Welch of 10, Thornhill Terrace, says:- "Just a line to let you know tha6t I am in the best of trim. We are having some lovely weather now, plenty of rain and jolly cold with it to help make it more pleasant. Makes on think we are in England instead of 'sunny France.' We had the Kaiser here for two days; came to see the 'contemptible little army,' but instead he saw his bodyguard, which he had brought up on purpose to smash us, swiped out. A lot broke through our front line, but none of them went back again to tell him - our chaps saw to that". "One of my chums was watering his horse the other day in a ford when his horse gave a jerk and pulled him head over heels into the ford. if he had been drowning we could not have helped him for laughing. The enemy have destroyed the town here and it is a shame, as they are not doing us a bit of harm by it. The church and town took years to build. They fire shells weighing 110Ib. into the place, so you can guess what damage they must be doing to a defenceless town. God help them when the French do get in to Germany; there will be a reckoning!" |
Decoration Record: | |
| Decoration: | Mention in Despatches (London Gazette: 29890 Page: 253 Jan. 4, 1917) |
| Citation: | France. L/Cpl. |
| Decoration: | Mention in Despatches (London Gazette: 30704 Page: 6178 May 25, 1918) |
| Citation: | France & Flanders. |
| Decoration: | Military Medal (London Gazette: 30743 Page: 7006 June 12, 1918) |
| Citation: | |