Private John Bowie

Private John Bowie, 1st Battalion, Highland Light Infantry. He was killed in action in Mesopotamia on 8th March 1916 aged 25. He was the son of William and Helen Bowie of Turriff, Aberdeenshire and is commemorated on the Basra War Memorial, Basra, Iraq. Originally he had enlisted in Galashiels in the Royal Scots Greys but had been posted to the H.L.I. in June 1915. Before enlisting he had worked in the Melrose Asylum. The Battalion had been transferred from France to Mesopotamia in December 1915. He fell in a relief attempt by General Aylmer’s forces to relieve British Forces trapped by the Turks in the town of Kut-Al-Amara. The attempt failed with 3,500 casualties.