Military: James Alfred Dawson Lowe - World War I & Beyond

Click on images to enlarge.

James Alfred Dawson Lowe was born in 1893 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. His parents were married in York in 1875 and had nine children (that I am aware of) while living in Ireland (where his father was stationed with the 3rd Dragoon Guards), Lancashire and finally Yorkshire.

James Alfred Lowe in DCOR uniform in Canada

James Alfred (JA) married Isabella Pickles in St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Leeds in 1913. His family was probably Anglican (Church of England) rather than Catholic, but Bell's mother came from Irish Catholic parents, so she and her children would have been baptized into the Roman Catholic religion and brought up Catholic.

JA and Bell had their first child, a girl they named Eileen, on 8 May 1914 in Leeds, and shortly after that the First World War broke out. He enlisted that same year, on 29 November 1914 and served as a gunner in the Royal Field Artillery (Territorial Force) with service no. 1631.

JA's records shows he was with the 2nd West Riding Battery. This gets confusing but the 2nd Battery was part of the 1st West Riding Brigade, which was part of the 49th (West Riding) Division. "The West Riding Batteries, Royal Field Artillery were units of the Territorial Force. 1st Brigade had their HQ in Fenton Street, Leeds and was made up of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd (Leeds) West Riding Batteries and the Leeds Ammunition Column." (http://www.wartimememoriesproject.com/greatwar/allied/regiment.php?pid=17656)

Further research shows that the 2nd West Riding Battery was more likely headquartered at Bramley (a district in west Leeds) rather than in Fenton Street as mentioned above, which is where the 1st and 3rd batteries were headquartered, so he may have been moved from one battery to another after enlistment.

As part of the Territorial Forces, during peacetime, the regiment did not go overseas but stayed in the British Isles. But after war was declared, all units were mobilized for full service (August 1914). The units were deployed to France in April of 1915 via either Folkestone-Boulogne or from Southampton to Le Havre. The division then concentrated in the area of Estaires/Merville/Neuf Berquin and remained in France and Flanders throughout the war.

JA, however, would have only seen combat for a couple of months before he was wounded in May 1915 and eventually returned to England and discharged.

James Alfred Lowe in Hospital in France during the First World War (seated far right).

Click on image to enlarge.

For his service, JA was awarded the 1914-1915 Star; British War Medal, 1914-1918; Victory Medal; and Silver War Badge Roll 1914-1920.

His official service records shows that he served for "one year and fifty-four days" before being discharged as "no longer physically fit for War Service" because of the injury, which was a gunshot wound (GSW) in the leg. However, in a Canadian enlistment record for World War II, JA indicates that he had served "1 1/2 years 7th Batt. Reg. No. 1265 Prince of Wales Own West Yorkshire, 9 yrs. 53 days #2 Batty R.F.A. 7th Division. Reg. No. 116311." (See document below.) That may have been from memory and not accurate or the person typing may have mistranscribed a handwritten form. But it does indicate that he served for longer than the records show. He seems to have enlisted in the Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire) Regiment as reserve some time after the war ended in 1918 for more than nine years. As the end of that time period is within the 100 year privacy range, those records may not be available yet.

JA and Bell had three more children, all boys, after the war, and in 1928 the family moved to Canada. After living in northern British Columbia as settlers for several years, they relocated to Vancouver in 1935. In January 1936, JA and his sons all joined the militia and served on reserve in the Duke of Connaught's Own British Columbia Regiment (DCOR), which was, at the time, a rifle brigade.

James Alfred, Henry (Harry), Vincent, James Edward in the DCOR

During this period of time, JA worked as a tailor, an occupation he learned from his father. When war became imminent, he and his son Jim Jr. both enlisted (senior in the DCOR and junior in the navy; his other two sons were too young). But James Alfred was discharged about six months later as being physically unfit for military service, the results of possible lung damage from gas in the First World War.

For more information about other aspects of JA's life, refer to the posts in the biography section as well as the ones about homesteading and his various careers & occupations.

Last updated 3 May 2021.