WIlfred Ludowick Bowen 1887 - 1916

Wilfred was born in Holmer, near Hereford in 1887 to James Bowen and Alice.  He had four brothers: Alfred, Henry, Sidney and Ernest.  His father was a cider maker.   In 1901 he is living in Elton Marsh just outside Hereford and is a bread maker. By 1911 he is living at  3 Belleview Cottage Hagley near Lugwardine and like his brother Sidney is listed as a tile maker. 

His military history is similar to other Hereford soldiers.  He originally joined the Herefordshire Regiment but was later transferred to the Kings Shropshire Light Infantry  and then to the Border Regiment.

His service numbers are as follows:

43987 Herefordshire Regiment

20444 Kings Shropshire Light Infantry

27715 Border Regiment

He may have been posted to guard docks in South Wales against possible attack. 

In September 1916 he was transferred to France to join the Border Regiment who had been decimated at the Battle of the Somme. 

Battalion Diary- summary

1 November 1916 training for battle.  Brigade Field day near Vicogne, Picardy France.

13 November 1916 Marched to Contay.

15 November 1916. Marched to Englebelmer- fitted out with bombs.

He was killed in the last battle of the Somme November 1916 trying to capture the Redan Ridge.  It was a futile attack as snow was already falling.  It is not known at what stage of the battle he was killed. It is likely that he was part of a group that captured and lived in a German trench for over a week.  Neither the British or the the Germans realised it had been captured. That would explain why he is buried in Frankfurt Trench cemetery.  We know that some survived after the 18 November 1916 but as their bodies lay out all winter and were not buried until the spring of1917 all death dates are recorded as the 18 November 1916.

Wilfred was 29 years of age when he died. 

Peter Weston's book The Redan Ridge-the Last Stand has an excellent description of the battle.

Frankfurt Trench is set on a beautiful hillside surrounded by corn in the summer.  One can only see the Cross of Sacrifice from the main road. 

A family member first visited in 1995 and St Marys School Lugwardine have visited twice since 2015. 

It is likely that Wilfred spent just over a month in France training for a battle that was to take his life. 

It is believed he had no wife or children.