BOWEN, Alfred Thomas
| Service Number: | 75 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 8 August 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Gunner |
| Last Unit: | 1st Field Artillery Brigade |
| Born: | Bendigo, date not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Eaglehawk, Greater Bendigo, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Cailfornia Gully SS & Eaglehawk SS |
| Occupation: | Soldier |
| Died: | 5 February 1945, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Box Hill General Cemetery, Victoria |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 8 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Gunner, 75, 1st Field Artillery Brigade | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Oct 1914: | Involvement Gunner, 75, 1st Field Artillery Brigade, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '3' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Argyllshire embarkation_ship_number: A8 public_note: '' | |
| 18 Oct 1914: | Embarked Gunner, 75, 1st Field Artillery Brigade, HMAT Argyllshire, Sydney |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Jack Coyne
Alfred Thomas BOWEN
Distinguished Conduct Medal & Medaille Militaire (French)
'For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. When the battery wagon lines were bombarded with gas and his explosives, causing much confusion, this W.O. on his captain becoming a casualty, took charge, and by his coolness and resource reorganized the lines, thus enabling the battery to remain mobile.'
Source: 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 15. Date: 4 February 1919 on page 126 at position 2
Just three weeks after the Great War concluded, the Bendigonian Weekly proudly published the feeling of Eaglehawk people under the heading: -
Eaglehawk Heroes Welcomed. ENTHUSIASTIC RECEPTION.
‘The hearty welcome accorded the Eaglehawk Anzacs on their arrival in the borough was indisputable evidence of the sincere gladness of their friends at their return. Many festivities have
in bygone years been witnessed in the borough to greet homecoming champions in the sporting, musical, and fire brigade world, but never was a welcome so representative or so enthusiastic as that arranged in honor of those who had worthily championed the cause of liberty and won honor for themselves, their birth place, and their country.
The Eaglehawk Anzacs were: Battery Sergeant-Major A. BOWEN, D.C.M, Quarter Master Sergeant .J. TRUESDALE & Sergeant T. GEE.
Three cheers, having been lustily given for the returned men, Sergeant Major Bowen rose to respond, and was greeted with great enthusiasm. He said the returned men could not adequately express their thanks for the fine welcome accorded them. Although they had been far away from Eaglehawk, they had been continuously in touch with the people of the borough
by means of the kind gifts which had been forwarded to them through the Red Cross and Comforts Fund. His comrades went away with one resolve -to do their duty-and after seeing the devastation and waste in France, they were determined that not a man of them would leave the front alive while such a foe as that was at large, with a possibility of reaching Australia. (Loud applause.)[1]
Medaille Militaire (French) Established in 1852 by the Emperor Louis Napoleon, this medal is awarded to military personnel for bravery. Australian War Memorial- RELAWM14767
Regimental number: 75
Religion: Roman Catholic
Occupation: Solider
Address: Maribyrnong Barracks, Victoria
Marital status: Single
Age at embarkation: 24
Next of kin: Mrs C A Bowen, 2 Woolacoth Street, Moreland,
Enlistment date: 18 August 1914
Rank on enlistment: Gunner
Unit name: Field Artillery Brigade 1, Battery 1
AWM Embarkation Roll number 13/29/1
Embarked from Sydney, on board Transport A8 Argyllshire on 18 October 1914
Final Rank: Sergeant
Unit: 13th Field Artillery Brigade
Fate: Returned to Australia 8 October 1918
DCM Source: 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 23 Date: 12 December 1919
Date of death: 5 February 1945
Place of burial: Boxhill Cemetery
Served 4 years and 47 days in WW1 including at Gallipoli.
Served from 1940- 1943 in WW2
Action where Alfred Bowen awarded DCM & French Medal
Bonnay near Corbie on the 24th April, 1918: - Many Australian war historians view this day and the following day as a crucial turning point of the First World War. The German Spring Offensive, which had commenced in early March 1918, had gained momentum and the British Fifth Army had capitulated in the face of the German onslaught. Field Marshall Haig called Australian Divisions to stop the advance.
The elevated town of Villers – Bretonneaux had been taken by the Germans on April 24 and this left the crucial railway hub of Amiens at the mercy of the German long range guns.
Australian Officers requested the British command to take back the town and this was done that evening with much loss of life and bravery. The German forces were stopped on April 25, 1918 at Villers - Bretonneaux by two Brigades of the AIF and then Allied forces progressively pushed the Germans back over 100 days to their Hindenburg Line fortress with Australians largely spearheading the attack.
[1] Bendigonian (Bendigo, Vic. : 1914 - 1918) Thu 5 Dec 1918 Page 9 Eaglehawk Heroes Welcomed.
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