Lowes Henry L/Cpl 4265889
Personnel Entry
Name Lowes Henry
Army number 4265889
Rank Lance Corporal.
Decorations British Empire Medal and Service Awards.
Date of birth 4/4/1909
Age At the time of his death - between 68 and 70.
Unit Enlisted in the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers at Bishop Auckland 10/10/1927, as a Regular soldier for 7/5 years, aged 19. Army Reserve B 9/10/1934. Transferred to The Durham Light Infantry 18/7/1940, and posted to the 10th Battalion DLI. Served Iceland. Served Normandy? Discharged 6/9/1944 under King's Regulations 1940 Para 390 (xvi) - implying unfitness for further service.
Company/Battery D Company.
Platoon or other sub-unit Not yet known.
Task or role Rifle Section Commander.
Joined Brigade 18/7/1940.
Promotions Acting Corporal.
Wounded Not so far as is known.
Prisoner of War Not so far as is known.
Died/Killed in action Died 1978 - exact date not yet known.
Home address Miner. Born Bishop Auckland - Parish of St Peter's, lived South Street, Married Dorothy C. Howe 1937. Resident in Bishop Auckland in 1948.
Source table 10DLI
While the citation for Corporal Lowes' British Empire Medal has apparently not survived, an Imperial War Museum Interview, carried out by Peter Hart, with Ronald Nicholson DINNIN - see here includes mention of an incident during the time when Cpl LOWES was in command of the Outpost at Skagastrond.
The coastal observation post was in a secluded cave some 15 or 20 feet down a cliffside and was occupied at any one time by two men on duty. There had been a fierce blizzard which lasted ten days and effectively buried the cave under a heavy blanket of snow. Cpl LOWES lowered himself down the cliff by rope and rescued the men trapped in the cave. It is possible that this incident, together with his role in maintaining the morale of his Section over a six month period when they were cut off from the rest of their Platoon, and any other supervising Officers, may have been the justification behind his award.
