"DIED LIKE A SOLDIER"

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2867, 4 September 1916, Page 3

"DIED LIKE A SOLDIER"

■•■V ; ♦ — ■ In. a, feeling, letter of sympathy to (lis mother on the. Heath of Frederick W. B. Bowen, -of the New Zealand Field Artillery on July 3 last. Captain M'Qtiarrie, O.C. 9th Battery, N.Z.F.A., writes: —"He was proceeding to tho trenches on duty when a shell' hurst closo to him. He was badly liurt, and died about, half an hour later. I cannot Arid words to express my sympathy in your sad bereavement. I knew Ffed Eefore tlio war out at Scatoun, and since he has been with me in tho 9th Battery I had come to look on him as a fine soldier —keen, efficient, and self-sacrificing. It is because I had men like liim with me that wo have been able to bring tho Battery tu the state of efficiency it is now in. Fred died like a soldier and a 1 gen tieman doing his duty, and mourned by his officers and comrades. His'was tho first death in the Battery, and hia lifo and death will help to sustain us in the future. Ho surely; has not died in vain." ' Serjeant Veal wrote as under:—"l thought I would write to let you know how cut up we are, especially the specialist section of the' Battery, at Fred's sudden death: He and his mate were on'their wa.y to tho frontline trench to do their twenty-four hours' shift on the ' communications when, just as they were about four hundred yards away from the Battery, a high explosive shell (59) hurst near them, and both were hit. Fred was more or le6s conscious to the end, but never complained, and although badly hurt, died quietly about an houi after he was liit. His first question when we reached him was for his friend. I know the O.C. is writing to yoir, but as sergeant of tho section to which Fred was attached, I came into close touch Vith him, and I would like you to know that although he had been badly shaken about several times lately, lie always kept his nerve, and was as game as tlie best. This last fow weeks wo have all been tried pretty severely, and I had come to iook on Fred as one of the men that could be relied upon under the hottest conditions. All the men that could bo spared from action, with an officer, attended' at tlie burial this .afternoon, and every sub-section mado a wreath of roses, gathered from deserted gardens, and placed tliem on the grave. The spot is being marked by a, cross, and if circumstances permit either the O.C. or myself will send you a photograph of tho place."