Francis Bowles (1876-1943)

Post date: Feb 22, 2016 3:36:30 PM

Francis H Bowles was born on 7 September 1876 at Mereworth, the third son of Thomas and Eliza. He was the elder brother of Thomas Bowles.

He probably went to Wateringbury School as the school log for 25th August 1890 when he would have just been approaching the school leaving age of 14, records: "Mr Bowles called upon me to say that his son, having no work, would be sent to school if nothing turned up for him. His family being large he was glad of every shilling they could earn".

In 1891 he was living at home, in Old Road, but now working as a domestic servant. In the 1911 census he was married and listed as a member of the crew of HMS Dominion, a King Edward VII-class battleship of the Royal Navy

Parish magazine December 1914: "The small parcel received to-night did as it was intended, it gave me a thrill of gladness to think that, as one of the Old Boys of the village, I am not forgotten, although my duties to the senior service have taken me away for nearly twenty years. . . Please accept my sincere thanks for September and October magazines. I scan the names with pride when I see such a large list of our boys who are serving their king and country, and with nearly twenty years' service to my name I feel proud that I am one of them" (Francis Bowles, gun-room messman, H.M.S. Duncan). The vicar still shows him as serving on H.M.S. Duncan in the parish magazine of March 1915.

As his service record does not exist we must presume he missed The Battle of Jutland at which his brother, Thomas, was killed.

HMS Duncan was one of 6 Duncan class pre-dreadnought battleships. It was completed in 1903 at Leamouth (Tower Hamlets) but by 1906 it was outclassed by dreadnought battleships. It carried a complement of 720 men and weighed 15,000 tonnes; speed was 19 knots; guns included 4 x 12 inch and 12 x 6 inch. Duncan was sill undergoing her refit when World War I began. Plans originally called for Duncan to be part of the 6th Battle Squadron in wartime and serve in the Channel Fleet. Sir John Jellicoe, requested that Duncan and be assigned to the 3rd Battle Squadron in the Grand Fleet for patrol duties to make up for the Grand Fleet's shortage of cruisers. Accordingly, the 6th Battle Squadron was abolished temporarily, and, upon completion of her refit in September 1914, Duncan joined the 3rd Battle Squadron at Scapa Flow, where she joined the Grand Fleet's cruisers on duty in the Northern Patrol.

Duncan was temporarily transferred to the Channel Fleet on 2 November 1914 to reinforce that fleet in the face of Imperial German Navy activity in the Channel Fleet's area as part of the 6th Battle Squadron. This squadron was given a mission of bombarding German submarine bases on the coast of Belgium, and was based at Portland. The 6th Battle Squadron returned to Dover in December 1914, then transferred to Sheerness on 30 December 1914 to relieve the 5th Battle Squadron there in guarding against a German invasion of the United Kingdom.

Between January and May 1915, the 6th Battle Squadron was dispersed. Duncan left the squadron in February 1915 to be reduced to reserve for a refit at Chatham that lasted until July 1915. She recommissioned at Chatham on 19 July 1915 and was attached to the 9th Cruiser Squadron on the Finisterre-Azores-Madeira Station.

In August 1915, Duncan transferred to the 2nd Detached Squadron in the Adriatic Sea. The squadron had been organized in May 1915 to reinforce the Italian Navy against the Austro-Hungarian Navy after Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary. Duncan was based at Taranto, Italy, during this service. In June 1916, Duncan transferred to the 3rd Detached Squadron in the Aegean Sea, based at Salonika. From October to December 1916, she participated in operations against Greek royalists, and landed Royal Marines at Athens on 1 December 1916. She returned to the Adriatic Squadron in January 1917 [summarised Wikipedia article].

In 1939 Francis was living with his wife, Beatrice, in Gillingham working as a furniture repairer. He died in 1943.