Serjeant REGINALD SAMUEL NORMAN FOWLER (photo added)



Rank | Serjeant |
Forenames | REGINALD SAMUEL NORMAN |
Surname | FOWLER (photo added) |
Initials | R S N |
Place of Birth |
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Date of Birth | Unknown |
Date of Death | Tuesday, 25 July 1944 |
Age | 29 |
Nationality |
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Residence or Entered Service From | BLACKPOOL, LANCASHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM |
Service Number | 6025520 | Force |
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Service/Corps/Regiment |
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Unit / Ship / Battalion / Squadron | 9 Parachute Battalion (6th Airborne Division) |
Military Honours and Awards | |
Place of Burial/Commemoration |
RANVILLE WAR CEMETERY
Roll of honour |
Grave/Memorial Location | IVA. O. 9. |
Previous Place(s) of Burial | Unknown |
Epitaph | IN LOVING MEMORY OF MY DEAR, FAITHFUL HUSBAND WHO WILL ALWAYS BE IN MY THOUGHTS |
Family Details | HUSBAND OF CONSTANCE JEANNE IRENE FOWLER, OF POULTON, BLACKPOOL, LANCASHIRE. |
Additional Information
Commonwealth War Grave Commission Records list REGINALD SAMUEL NORMAN FOWLER as a Lance Serjeant. However, his original grave marker, official notification of death, and his former platoon officer, in a letter to the family, refer to him as a Serjeant.
The following information has been taken from the memoir, SID's WAR, of 9 Parachute Battallion veteran Private Sid Capon, who was wounded on the same day as Serjeant REGINALD SAMUEL NORMAN FOWLER:
Sid Capon was wounded in the Bois de Bavent, a wooded area east of Caen. He managed to make his way to battalion Headquarters to alert them to that someone else had been wounded. Sid's wound was assessed and it was decided he would be evacuated and he had to wait for a Jeep to arrive.
When the Jeep arrived, it was carrying Serjeant Fowler on a stretcher... 'The MO (Medical Officer) took one look at me, injected me with morphine and put a sign around my neck. "I'm afraid you are going back to Blighty, but you will have to wait for a Jeep to come."
The jeep came carrying a more serious case than mine. It was Sergeant Reg Fowler. I sat on the unwounded cheek of my arse and we went to the first medical station. Reg Fowler's wife had given birth a few days before we left England and was one of the very few given leave to see his wife and newborn baby before we left. He was moaning with pain and calling out about his wife and children but he died before we got to the medical station.
Three letters had to be sent that day to the bereaved...'2
Private Sid Capon was awarded the Légion d'Honneur in 2005. He passed away in 2006.
It was believed by some in the regiment that Sergeant REGINALD SAMUEL NORMAN FOWLER had seen his newborn child in the weeks before he left for Normandy, when he had been given special leave. This, unfortunately, was not the case, his wife had a prolonged labour and his son Anthony Fowler was born some days later after he had returned to camp. By this time the 9 Parachute Battalion were confined to camp, and waiting for their orders to drop into Normandy.3
References |
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1. | All photographs and documents, unless otherwise referenced, have all been kindly provided by Anthony Fowler, son of Serjeant Reginald Samual Norman Fowler, via his son-in-law Neal Simms and daughter Jacqui Simms. |
2. | Extract from SID's WAR, edited and published by Major Michael Strong, © Joan Capon. Privately Published in 2012. |
3. | Interview with Anothony Fowler, son of Serjeant FOWLER, May 2012 and February 2014. |
4. | Photograph of Lieutenant Lepper, Lance Corporal Fowler and 9 Parachute Battalion provided by Neil Barber author of The Day the Devils Dropped In. Published 2002, 2003, Pen & Sword Books Ltd. e-Book published 2013. |
5. | Photograph of Reverend Gwinnett, from Pegasus Bridge & Merville Battery, p.110. published 1999 - 2004 3rd edition. Pen & Sword Books Ltd. by Carl Shilleto. Courtesy of Batterie de Merville Museum. |
6. | Photograph taken by Carl Shilleto, June 2014. |
7. | Photographs taken by Frederick Greenhow, May 2014. |
Acknowledgements and Credits |
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Source of original data: | Commonwealth War Graves Commission |
Headstone photograph: | Carl Shilleto |
Cross marker photograph: | Anthony Fowler, son of Serjeant Reginald Samual Norman Fowler. |
Individual photograph: | Anthony Fowler, son of Serjeant Reginald Samual Norman Fowler. |
Additional photographs provided by: | Anthony Folwer , Neil Barber, Carl Shilleto, Batterie de Merville Museum and Frederick Greenhow. |
Additional information provided by: | Anthony Fowler, son of Serjeant Reginald Samual Norman Fowler, Carl Shilleto, Neil Barber, and Batterie de Merville Museum |
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What other people have said
Margaret Gaunt
Rest in peace ... you are not forgotten.
On Sunday, May 18, 2014De Keyzer Thierry
we will never forget !
On Wednesday, January 1, 2014