2nd Lieut Henry Hampton Cowin

• Age: 31
• From: Douglas I.O.M
• Regiment: 21st Bn Manchester
• Died on Saturday 1st July 1916
• Commemorated at: Dantzig Alley British Cemetery, Mametz
  Panel Ref: II.C.9

Henry Hampton Cowin was born in Douglas, Isle of Man, on 8^th April 1885, to Henry Francis and Jemima (nee Hampton).  His parents, both born in the Isle of Man, were married in 1884 and Henry was the first of nine children. His siblings were Francis, Eleanor, James, Daniel, Edith, Reginald, Margaret, and Edgar.  Henry was baptised into the Methodist Church in Douglas on 12^th June 1885.

In 1891 the family is living at 13 Hawarden Avenue, Douglas.  His father is an accountant.  They have three sons, and a domestic servant. Henry is 5.  

By 1901 they have moved to Onchan, Isle of Man, and are living at 23 Derby Square.  His father is a self-employed ‘incorporated accountant’. Henry is 15, probably at school, as no occupation is listed.  Francis is 14, Eleanor 12, James 10, Daniel 7, Edith 6, Reginald 4, Margaret 3, Edgar 1. 

Henry worked for Lloyds Bank in Douglas and a promotion took him to Liverpool.  Henry’s name appears on the student records of the University of London, but it is not known when he attended the University.

In 1911 Henry is boarding with Jane Woodhall at 22 Hawarden Avenue, Liverpool (coincidentally the same street name as where his family lived in 1891).  Henry is 25, single and employed as a clerk with Lloyd’s bank.   Also boarding in the household is his brother Daniel Cowin, 17, also a bank clerk.  His parents and other siblings are still at 23 Derby Square in Onchan.

Soon after war broke out Henry enlisted at St George's Hall, Liverpool as Private 21476 joining the 19^th (Pals) Battalion of The King’s Liverpool Regiment, was promoted to Lance Corporal, and was discharged in order to attend an Officer Training Course. 

Henry was gazetted as 2^nd Lieutenant with the 21^st Manchester Regiment and was discharged to Commission on 12^th June 1916 according to the medal roll.

Henry was killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme in the attack on Mametz.  He was buried in place and after the war when graves were concentrated, he was reburied in Danzig Alley British Cemetery, where he now rests. His gravestone inscription reads:

"A TRUE MANX GENTLEMAN AND LOVED BY ALL WHO KNEW HIM"

The village of Mametz was carried by the 7th Division on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, after very hard fighting at Dantzig Alley (a German trench) and other points. The cemetery was begun later in the same month and was used by field ambulances and fighting units until the following November. The ground was lost during the great German advance in March 1918 but regained in August, and a few graves were added to the cemetery in August and September 1918. At the Armistice, the cemetery consisted of 183 graves, now in Plot I, but it was then very greatly increased by graves (almost all of 1916) brought in from the battlefields north and east of Mametz and from certain smaller burial grounds. 

Dantzig Alley British Cemetery now contains 2,053 burials and commemorations of the First World War. 518 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to 17 casualties known or believed to be buried among them. Other special memorials record the names of 71 casualties buried in other cemeteries, whose graves were destroyed by shell fire.

The cemetery was designed by Sir Herbert Baker.

His death was reported in the Isle of Man Examiner on 15th July 1916

LIEUTENANT HENRY COWIN KILLED.

On Wednesday, Mr Henry Cowin. of Derby Square. Douglas (Secretary to the Assessment and Asylums Boards), received word that his oldest son. Lieutenant Henry Cowin, was killed on 1st July, while gallantly leading his company into action at the Mametz Wood. Lieut. Cowin, who was 31 years of age, was employed in the Liverpool branch of Lloyd's Bank, and on the outbreak of war enlisted in the King's Liverpool (" Pals "). He saw service in France, where he was promoted to commissioned rank. He came to England to undergo a course of training, and returned to the front about a month ago.—Four other sons of Mr Cowin are in the forces, and a daughter is a nurse in a military hospital in Salonica.

Henry earned his three medals; his 1914-15 Star was returned and reissued.

Probate, giving Henry's address as 202 Upper Parliament Street, Liverpool, was granted to his brother Francis Richard Cowin, R.N.A.S.,  effects  £290 17s 8d.

Henry's loss was not the only tregedy to befall the family as his younger brother Reginald William also enlisted and joined the R.N.A.S, in 1915, and transferred to the R.A.F. as Air Mechanic 1st Class. He was killed whilst flying Airship SST6 at Kingsnorth Airship Construction Station. The Airship, which was delivered on 29th August 1918 was destroyed by fire on her maiden flight on 30th August 1918 with the loss of all five crew members. They were Capt CHARLES KING RAF, Capt. M.BARTLETT RAF, Lt. W. RIGHTON RAF, Sgt. D.N. CAMERON RAF and AM1 R.W. COWIN RAF. The SST (Sea Scout - Twin) airship was the last class to be designed during the Great War. He was aged 21 and now rests at Grave  N.2 in Douglas Cemetery, Isle of Man.

His father died in 1927, and his mother in 1932.

Henry is remembered on his family’s headstone in Douglas Borough Cemetery. “ Henry Hampton Cowin, 2^nd Lieut. 21^st Manchester Regiment, Killed at Mametz, Battle of the Somme, 1^st July 1916, aged 31 years.”

Henry and Reginald are both commemorated on the Douglas, Isle of Man, Memorial, and the Douglas Roll of Honour.  Henry is also commemorated on the Lloyds Bank Memorial.