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World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great 1914 1918 first battalion regiment
Pte Frank Alfred Dowding
British Army 4th Btn. South Wales Borderers
(d.3rd March 1917)
Group Capt. Hugh Caswell Tremenheere "Stuffy" Dowding
Royal Flying Corps
from:St Ninnians, Moffat, Scotland
My Stepfather, Hugh Dowding, was educated at his father's preparatory school at Moffat and then Winchester, after which he entered the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich in 1899. Failing to gain a commission in the Royal Engineers, he joined the Royal Garrison Artillery, being posted to Gibraltar, then to Ceylon and Hong Kong. In 1904 be was posted to No 7 Mountain Artillery Battery – NWF, in India. From January 1912 he attended Army Staff College. In 1913 he joined the Garrison Artillery on the Isle of Wight
He learnt to fly at the Vickers Flying School, Brooklands, gaining his RAeC Certificate (No 711), on the day he passed out from Camberley, after 1 hour 40 minutes. At the Central Flying School his instructor was Capt. John Salmond. Having gained his 'Wings', he was added to the RFC Reserve List returning to his Garrison Artillery duties on the Isle of Wight. In 1929, following the escalation of trouble in the area, he was sent to Palestine to undertake an inquiry into the need and form of possible re-inforcements for the area.
At the outbreak of war in August 1914 he was Commandant - Dover Assembly Point and later that month he was posted as a Pilot to No 7 Sqn RFC, transferring to No 6 Sqn on the 6th of October 1914. On the 18th of November he was transferred to GSO3, HQ RFC and on the 8th December 1914 he was appointed Flight Commander of No 9 Sqn RFC. On the 27th of January 1915 he became Flight Commander of No 6 Sqn RFC. On the 4th of March 1915 he was appointed Officer i/c Wireless Flight, No 4 Sqn RFC and from 17th March 1915 he became Officer Commanding No 9 Sqn/Wireless Experimental Establishment RFC. From July he was Officer Commanding No 16 Sqn and on the 1st of February the following year was posted to Farnborough to become Officer Commanding, 7th Wing RFC. On the 22nd June he became Officer Commanding, 9th (HQ) Wing RFC. On New Year's day 1917 he was promoted to Officer Commanding, Southern Group Command and on the 5th of August 1917, he became Brigadier-General Commanding, Southern Training Brigade. In 1918 he was Brigadier-General (Administration), HQ No 4 Area. and then Brigadier-General (Administration), HQ North-Eastern Area. In January 1919 he became Brigadier-General (Administration) York, HQ North-Western Area and in June, Brigadier-General (Administration), HQ Northern Area. On the 1st of August 1919 he became Group Capt (Administration), HQ Northern Area and was Re-Seconded to the RAF for further two years.On the 1st of September he became Temporary AOC, Northern Area and on the 18th of October 1919, Officer Commanding, No 16 Group.
Between the wars he was Officer Commanding, No 1 Group then Chief Staff Officer, Inland Area. In August 1924 he became Chief Staff Officer, HQ Iraq Command. In May 1926 he became Director of Training ad in December 1929 AOC, Fighting Area, Air Defence of Great Britain.
On 28 January 1936 he was one of three officers representing the Air Council at the funeral of HM King George V. On the 14 July 1936 he became AOC in C, Fighter Command.
As Air Member for Research and Development in the 1930's he was in a position to oversee the development of the eight gun fighters, Hurricane and Spitfire, but even more importantly his previous experience in wireless experiments gave him an excellent insight into possibilities of it's use in the detection of aircraft. He was able to take these preparations to their logical conclusion when given command of the newly formed Fighter Command in July 1936. He immediately set about developing a system able to make best use of his limited resources and it was this system as much as anything that ensured success in 1940. He established the coastal chain of radar stations (then known as RDF), but the success of radar really lay in the reporting and control system he set up which allowed aircraft to be placed in the right place at the right height in time to meet the threat.
During the Battle of Britain his most difficult problem was the conflict between AVM Leigh-Mallory and AVM Park over tactics in which he supported both Group Commanders and saw that both sets of tactics had their advantages but that they were not necessarily suitable in both situations. From 1938 Dowding was advised of five separate retirement dates, but each one was rescinded for various reasons, therefore, his replacement in November 1940 as AOC in C Fighter Command, when flush with success in the Battle of Britain was seen as a snub by many, although it had in fact been planned.
H. Dowds
British Army 15th Btn. Royal Irish Rifles
(d.1st Jul 1916)
Pte. Montague Dowell
British Army 2/6th Btn. Royal Warwickshire Regiment
(d.3rd September 1917)
Spr. James Dower
British Army Royal Engineers
from:Ferrybank, Waterford
(d.6th July 1918)
Sapper Dower was the Husband of A. Dower, of Ballinamona, Ferrybank, Waterford. Born at Kilea.
He was transferred to (348305) 653rd Home Service Empl. Coy. Labour Corps. He was 48 when he died and is buried in the north west part of the Kilbride Graveyard, Kilbride, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland.
Sgt. Thomas Dowey
British Army 2nd Btn. Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
from:Lurgan, Co. Armagh
(d.5th Jan 1917)
A/Sgt. John McGregor Dowie
British Army 2nd Btn. Black Watch
from:Leith
Dvr. Walter Dowler
British Army 39th Brigade, 46th Battery. Royal Field Artillery
from:Headley, Hampshire
(d.15th Nov 1914)
Rflmn. Alfred William Dowling
British Army 2nd Btn. King's Royal Rifle Corps
from:London
(d.10th July 1917)
Alfred Dowling was reported missing presumed dead and the last time he had been seen was at a river when they were under attack and retreating. As he couldn't swim, it is thought likely that he had drowned in the attempt to cross the river.
Pte. Charles John Dowling
British Army 6th Btn. East Kent Regiment
from:Westham near Pevensey, Sussex
(d.12th April 1917)
Dvr. Henry Dowling
British Army 233rd Field Company Royal Engineers
from:29 Glebe Rd, Middlesborough
This information is from my Grandfather's enlistment papers, his name was Henry Dowling, I recall that his medals were marked 'driver' and he told me he was a mule driver.
Pte. Joseph Vincent Dowling
British Army Royal Warwickshire Regiment
from:Lancashire
Sgt. Patrick Dowling
British Army 2nd Btn. Royal Irish Regiment
from:Orchardton, Kilkenny
(d.21st March 1918)
Pte. William Joseph "Bennie" Dowling
British Army 1/4th Btn. Seaforth Highlanders
from:Middlesbrough
(d.27th Oct 1916)
My great uncle William Joseph Dowling was from Middlesbrough but he enlisted in Dingwall in Ross-Shire. He was sent to France in November 1915 and was injured during the night of the 26th October 1916. The telegram to his mother states that he suffered a serious head injury. He died the next day in 26 General Hospital, Etaples and is buried in Etaples Military Cemetery.
Pte. William Dowling
U.S. Army F Coy. 306th Infantry Regiment
from:Glen Cove
Sgt. John Down
British Army 8th Btn. Somerset Light Infantry
from:East Lambrook
(d.3rd March 1918)
Sgt. Charles Henry Downard
British Army 2/8 Battalion Royal Warwickshire
from:65 Kathleen Road, Hay Mills, Birmingham
(d.16th Aug 1916)
Charles Henry Downard, and his comrades of the 61th Division, were veterans of the Battle of Fromelles. Charles Henry Downard, born in 1888 in Brighton, Sussex, moved to Birmingham in 1893 and became a tram driver there in 1911. He married at age 26 Nellie Bracebridge, who gave birth to Gwendoline on 19th February 1915. She died aged 90 in 2005 and never saw her father.
Charles was enlisted as a sergeant in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and because of varicose veins was not required for front line duty. However, he became so depressed by the numbers of men he trained were being killed, he volunteered for France. His unit, assigned to the 61th British Division, landed in France in May 1916. After a short training in trench warfare, the division was selected to participate in the Battle of Fromelles, 19 July 1916. On 9th August 1916, Charles left the billets at Riez bailleul for a ten-day tour in the trences. (In a letter home he complains that they are asking too much of the men). On the 16th August around 6.00 pm, Charles and his comrades were ordered to engage the right flank of the German Army at Fauquissart. Wounded by a mortar bomb that appears to have disembowelled him, he was evacuated to a military hospital where he died after two days. We have letters from Medical Officer and Nurse to his wife Nellie confirm that he survived 2 days after his official date of death. Charles is buried in the British military cemetery at Merville
In the 1930s, the British survivors, traumatized by these early battles, placed on the wall of the town hall in Laventie a plaque in memory of their comrades, such as Charles Downard, killed in battle nearby. This is a major place for the commemoration of the British victims of the battle. Red poppies are regularly hooked upon it. This year a new place will commemorate some of the victims of the Battle at Fromelles, where now lie some 250 bodies of Australian and British soldiers exhumed from mass graves dug by the Germans after the battle.
Capt. Downes
British Army South Staffordshire Rgt.
Capt.Downes was a prisoner at Strohen POW camp. He was bayoneted through a lung by guards for `not moving quickly enough'. After hospital treatment he recovered. The incident was witnessed by G. F. Knight, another POW.
Cpl. Henry Levi Downes
British Army 1st Btn. North Staffordshire Regiment
Henry Downes enlisted on 30th Aug 1908 and was discharged with wounds on 11th of May 1917 with Silver war badge number 174735. I cannot find what Battalion he was with. He was the brother of my wife's late Grandfather, 6904 Pte Arthur Downs, Royal Scots Fusiliers
Pte. Charles Downey
British Army 20th Btn. Northumberland Fusiliers
from:Ryton
(d.5th June 1917)
2nd Lt. Sydney James Livingston Downey
British Army 14th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles
from:Belfast, N. Ireland
(d.7th Jun 1917)
Sydney Downey was the second son of James Livingston Downey JP. and his wife Marion, he was the grandson of Rev George Cron. Sydney was born in Belfast and was educated at the Methodist College. He served in France with the BEF from the 15th of June 1916, having been commissioned in January 1916. Sydney was killed in action on the 7th of June 1915 and is laid to rest at Spanbrokmolen close to where he fell. He was 21 years old and was an employee of The Northern Assurance Company Ltd in Belfast, today the company is owned by Aviva and Sydney is amongst those remembered on the Roll of Honour on the company website.
Pte William Downey
British Army 2nd Btn. Monmouthshire Regiment
from:Brynmawr, Breconshire
(d.6th August 1917)
Pte. George Ure Russell Downie
British Army 5th Btn. (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) Royal Scots
from:Edinburgh
(d.7th May 1915)
George Downie died on the 7th May 1915, aged 17. He is commemorated on the Helles Memorial, Gallipoli, Turkey and was the son of Andrew and Elizabeth L. Munro Downie of 1 West Stanhope Place, Edinburgh.
Pte. John Downie
British Army 13th Btn. Royal Scots
from:Ayr
(d.1st August 1918)
Sgt. Thomas Downie DCM.
British Army Cameron Highlanders
from:Edinburgh
George Bernard Downing
British Army 8th Btn. South Staffordshire Regiment
from:Walsall
(d.23rd April 1917)
My Great Uncle, George Bernard Downing, was born in Walsall, Staffordshire in 1895. He joined the 8th South Staffs Territorials, and on the outbreak of war was mobilised. He died at the Battle of Arras on 23rd of April 1917 with no known grave. He left a wife and a baby son named Bernard.
Stkr1. Harold Arthur Downing
Royal Navy
Harold Downing served in the Royal Navy from July 1915 till August 1919.
Pte. James Thomas Downing MM.
British Army 24th Btn. Royal Fusiliers
from:Helston, Cornwall
My husband's Grandfather James Downing, joined up in 1914 with the Royal Fusiliers. He left a wife and baby son in Cornwall. He served with distinction throughout and was Mentioned in Dispatches (twice) and was awarded the Military Medal in 1917 when he saved the life of Major Christopher Stone, who went on to broadcast over the radio. Jimmy was gassed and was wounded and we believe he recuperated from his wounds somewhere in England. Presumably, he returned to England in 1919 and he died of lung cancer in 1970.
Pte. Joseph Downing
British Army 1st Btn. South Staffordshire Regiment
My granddad, Joseph Downing served with the 1st Battalion, South Staffs. He enlisted in 1911 and served in south Africa prior to WW1. He was with the BEF arriving in Belgium in 1914. He was awarded the silver war badge when he was discharged from the army in 1917
Pte. Thomas Downing
British Army 6th Btn. South Lancashire Regiment
(d.19th Feb 1917)
Thomas Downing was executed for sleeping at his post 19/02/1917 age 21 and is commemorated on the Basra Memorial in Iraq.
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