The private memorial to Capt G V S Bowlby next to the Skrine Memorial (qv) near Ypres in Belgium
Born in London on 1st December 1883, Geoffrey Vaux Salvin Bowlby came from a military family; his grandfather was at Waterloo. Educated at Eton and Sandhurst, he was promoted Captain at the early age of 24 and soon afterwards became ADC to the C in C Ireland. He married in 1911 the Hon. Lettice, 4th daughter of Viscount Valencia, and they had two children. Bowlby was in France from the beginning of the War and distinguished himself at Wytschaete at the end of October when, as the senior officer left, he took command of a composite battalion and was mentioned in despatches. Returning to the 'Blues' he commanded 'A' Company and was killed leading a successful afternoon counter attack up the hill across open country near Gully Farm after part of the Brigade had been driven out of their trenches earlier in the day. "Poor old Bowlby was shot and refused assistance; he was almost instantaneously killed." Capt G V S Bowlby memorial After the War his grave could not be found. His widow, the Hon Lettice Bowlby, determined to commemorate her husband on the spot where he fell. She found that the field had already been bought by the sister of Captain Henry Skrine for the same purpose, but arranged to buy the strip of land concerned and in due course the two memorials were erected, some 150 yards apart. Captain Bowlby's memorial, a stone base surmounted by a stone cross within a small garden, was built beside the track to Gully Farm about 100 yards from the road and in 1930 arrangements were made & funds provided for it to be cared for by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The inscription reads: 'IN PROUD AND LOVING MEMORY OF GEOFFREY VAUX SALVIN BOWLBY CAPTAIN. ROYAL HORSE GUARDS ROYAL HORSE GUARDS BORN 1 DEC 1883 KILLED IN ACTION NEAR THIS SPOT ON 13th MAY 1915 WHILE LEADING A COUNTERATTACK.' From Private Memorials of the Great War on the Western Front, by Barrie Thorpe, published by The Western Front Association
Size: 3725px × 5216px
Location: Begijnenbosstraat 2, 8900 Ieper, Belgium
Photo credit: © Niall Ferguson / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1914-18, belgium, bowlby, capt, centenary, commemoration, front, great, guards, horse, ieper, memorial, military, poppies, poppy, private, royal, salient, war, western, wreaths, ypres
