Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => The Great War => Topic started by: Plynkes on December 14, 2019, 12:41:00 AM
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So I was in my local park today (and no, I wasn't hanging around the public toilets trying to pick up guys, why would you even think that?) and I chanced upon the war memorial. Never paid it much heed before, but today I had a good look.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/42/163-141219011533-428481165.jpeg)
You've overdone the verdigris a bit there, mate. Doesn't look very realistic.
The nearby plaque telling the names of all the local fallen from the Great War was quite interesting. Lots of different outfits represented, with the Herefords, the Glosters and the KSLI getting quite a bit of representation, as you'd expect given where I live. But there was one I was not expecting:
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/42/163-141219011533-428471812.jpeg)
Yep, someone from my sleepy, rainy town here on the Welsh border served and died in the Australian Light Horse. How peculiar. Well I was quite bowled over by this and it got me thinking. I want to commemorate this Trooper Frank Cowles customer in miniature. I've done no painting for over a year due to a prolonged bout of ill health, and this discovery has inspired me to pick up the brushes again. I'm going to buy an ALH figure and paint him up, just for my own entertainment and to honour Trooper Frank. I know, I know, I already have a lead mountain threatening to blot out the sun (it's so bad that Greta Thunberg regularly turns up to protest it), but I feel the occasion demands I splash out on some fresh lead. So wish me luck, I'm going to get painting again, and I actually mean it this time.
By the way, I'm not sure what ALH figures are out there these days, and haven't looked very thoroughly yet, so if you have any recommendations feel free to make a suggestion.
I wonder if that fella saw action at Gaza? And if so I wonder if he bumped into anyone he knew from back home? As the Herefords were involved in the battles for Gaza too.
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That's a lovely story Dylan. If memory serves, did I not provided you with a small number of ANZAC miniatures many, many years ago?
Will be lovely to see painted. I only know of Brigade Games, but I'm sure your devoted followers can provide other suggestions.
Best wishes,
Helen
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Yes, I still have them, Helen, but they aren't really your archetypal Light Horse as I recall. More like infantry. I have had something in mind for them for a while, but like so many things, haven't got around to it yet. I think since I was really into the Great War some years ago some other options have opened up, but I'll find out soon enough.
Not sure I have any devoted followers, mind, but I appreciate the sentiment. :)
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Trooper Cowles is commemorated on the Imperial War Museum web site too. He was born in Herefordshire and emigrated to Australia. Cowles was wounded in the arm near Gaba Tepe (Gallipoli) on 10 August 1915. He died of his wounds in September, back in the UK.
Robert
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Thanks, Robert. Nice to get a little bit of his story. It never occurred to me that there might be more information available beyond just a name.
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Eureka have ALH figures IIRC. A decent proportion of the AIF were originally from the UK who'd emigrated to Oz.
Edit: Eureka's are 15mm. They do however do a 28mm vignette of Gallipoli Anzacs playing Two-up which might be an option.
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Yes, I still have them, Helen, but they aren't really your archetypal Light Horse as I recall. More like infantry. I have had something in mind for them for a while, but like so many things, haven't got around to it yet. I think since I was really into the Great War some years ago some other options have opened up, but I'll find out soon enough.
Not sure I have any devoted followers, mind, but I appreciate the sentiment. :)
Thanks Dylan.
I hope your recovery is going well. Sorry for not saying that initially.
Best wishes,
Helen
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643 Trooper Frank Cowles
Note. The records of service of personnel of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in World War I are held as digital copies on the National Archives of Australia website.
The following personal information is extracted from Tpr Frank Cowles' record of service.
Frank Cowes was born at Lyons Hall Herefordshire, England. He enlisted in the AIF at Marrickville, Sydney, NSW on 22 Sep 1914.
His personal details on enlistment were:
Age - 22 years 9 months
Height - 5 feet 8 inches
Weight - 10 stone 8 pounds
Chest measurement - 33 inches/36 inches
Complexion - Fair
Eyes - Blue
Hair - Light brown
Religion - Church of England
Marital Status - Single
Occupation - Butcher
Frank Cowles was initially posted as a Driver to the 1st Reinforcements, 6th Company, Australian Army Service Corps (AASC).
He embarked in Sydney on the Troopship A39 PORT MACQUARIE on 21 Dec 1914 with the initial deployment of the AIF to Egypt. During the voyage he was classified as medically unfit and he was landed at Colombo, Ceylon [Sri Lanka] on 15 Jan 1915 for medical treatment. After treatment re re-embarked at Colombo on a later convoy for Egypt and was posted to a Reinforcement draft for the 4th Australian Light Horse Regiment (4 ALH). Subsequently, on 27 Jul 1915 he was transferred to C Squadron, 4th Australian Light Horse Regiment and deployed to Gallipoli.
The 4th Australian Light Horse Regiment was originally raised as the divisional cavalry regiment for the 1st Australian Infantry Division. It was not part of the three Australian Light Horse Brigades raised in 1914/15; however, at Gallipoli it was attached to the 2nd Australian Light Horse Brigade to increase the Infantry firepower of the Brigade. The Australian Light Horse Brigades deployed to Gallipoli were used in a dismounted Infantry role.
Approximately, a quarter of the Light Horse Regiments' personnel were retained in Egypt to maintain, train and exercise the Regiments' horses. Some 500 of these personnel remaining in Egypt formed the Composite Light Horse Regiment which fought against the Senussi in the Western Desert campaign in 1915-16.
During the major British offensive at Gallipoli in August 1915, 4 ALH as part of 2 ALH Bde provided fire support and diversionary attacks for the main attacks on Lone Pine and The Nek. 4 ALH was located at Ryrie's Post during these attacks.
As part of these operations, on 22 Aug 1915 Tpr Cowles was wounded in action [gunshot wound to the right arm]. He was subsequently evacuated to England. He died of wounds on 10 Sep 1915 at the Military Hospital, Devonport, England. His record of service states he was buried at Lyons Hall Churchyard, Leemington [?] Herefordshire, England on 14 Sep 1915. Grave number 88 Section C.
After the evacuation of Gallipoli in December 1915, the 4th Australian Light Horse Regiment was reduced to two squadrons and the unit temporarily removed from the order of battle. One squadron went to France in mid-1916 with the four Australian Infantry Divisions reformed after the Gallipoli evacuation (the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th Divisions) as the Corps mounted troops. The other squadron was retained in Egypt for detached duties until the 4th Light Horse Regiment was re-raised in 1917 as part of the new 4th Australian Light Horse Brigade.
Tpr Cowles did not fight at Gaza. The three battles of Gaza were fought between March and October 1917. The new 4th Light Horse Regiment was the right forward regiment in the charge at Beersheba culminating the third Battle of Gaza.
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My apologies for the poor layout of my post above.
I am still trying to work out what happened.
Sunray61
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My apologies for the poor layout of my post above.
I am still trying to work out what happened.
Sunray61
No worries, there were some formatting tags left at the start. I changed it to a standard formatting, feel free to add some if it helps with legibility.
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Westfalia Chris,
Many thanks for sorting this out for me.
Sunray61
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Wow, thanks Sunray61, I never expected this much info. That's quite some comprehensive record-keeping by the Aussie authorities. Lyonshall is hardly any distance from where I am, when I get a minute I'm going to pop over there and see if I can find his grave.
I figured he wasn't at Gaza as soon as we found out he was invalided back to Blighty after being wounded at Gallipoli. So I guess I'd have to rephrase my pondering to "I wonder if he bumped into anyone he knew from back home at Gallipoli?", as the Herefords had the Aussies on their flank in the Dardanelles.
Anyway, thanks a lot for your post, most impressive, right down to his chest measurements. And sorry for taking so long to respond, I had kind of forgotten about this thread. :)
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So I took a little trip over to Lyonshall, to the church of St. Michaels and All Angels...
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/44/163-140320180845-44399573.jpeg)
And I found him...
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/44/163-140320180846-444022401.jpeg)
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/44/163-140320180846-44403505.jpeg)
Found another website referencing him...
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/44/163-140320180846-444041781.jpeg)
It has a bit of additional info the IWM site didn't have.
And nothing to do with anything, really, this was nearby in the churchyard...
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/44/163-140320180846-444011010.jpeg)
A Polish airman's grave from World War Two. I looked him up. 305 Squadron flew Mosquitoes at this point during the war (my absolute all-time favourite aeroplane - I was looking at the one they've got at RAF Cosford just the other week). Seems the Mozzy was lost in an accident, killing both crew. Starszy Sierzant Marian Kita had already walked away unscathed from a Wellington crash in 1941. That's a bit of rough luck.
So there we are. Found the final resting place of one Trooper Frank Cowles. Back in the village he was born in, after quite the odyssey. I have a pack of figures coming this week, so hopefully I'll have a piece of painted lead to show you before too long.
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Great story you have extended another bit well done everyone
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Agreed - some great research and a lovely tribute to these brave men. I've researched the lives of a few of my relatives (from Herefordshire and elsewhere) during the Great War and it's always nice to get as complete a picture as possible.
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As the current O.I.C of the Kings Own Colonials in the Herefordshire VBCW campaign this was a great read.
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Well, I finally got it done. My tribute to trooper Frank...
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/51/163-250421174417.jpeg)
Trooper Frank Cowles, 4th Australian Light Horse, 1915.
Sorry for dragging my feet on this one. I painted it a little while ago, but have been avoiding taking a photo. Honestly I find that harder than the painting part these days. But I have been praying that his bayonet didn't get knocked off while he was sitting in a box and thought I'd better get it photographed before we lost it. Seriously, it is so flimsy. I really don't think it would survive much gaming. Nearly knocked if off half a dozen times painting the thing. I do like the figure despite that, but he is tiny. Would look like a midget fighting my Brigade or Copplestone Turks.
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Well painted and a nice tribute!
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Nicely painted miniature Dylan an a great tribute.
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Lovely painting 8)
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Lovely painting :-*
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What a cool little thread. Really interesting seeing Plynkes original post being expanded on with others adding info until we had the full story of Frank's military service. Followed up by a cracking little miniature tribute.
That's a great paint job for someone who hasn't painted in a while to well done Plynkes .
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Great thread thanks for posting
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As others have remarked it’s far from uncommon to find British nationals amongst the ranks of Australian war dead. Australia is a young country, it only came into being in 1901 and the vast preponderance of immigrants pre the late 1940s/50s were from the UK.
One of the most famous ANZACs at Gallipoli, John Kirkpatrick, AKA John Simpson, he of Simpson and his donkey fame was born in South Shields. I believe there’s even a statue of him in his home town.
On the other side of the equation, the man who is (at least to date*) Australia’s most infamous war criminal Harry Breaker Morant was also UK born and bred.
Even in the ‘50s and early ‘60s Australia’s tiny regular army had a disproportionately high representation of UK born British nationals leading to the old joke that the Australian Army was a great little British Army fucked up only by the presence of a few Aussies.
Ian Mountain sculpted some exquisite ALH figures a few years ago and they were IIRC variously sold by War Times Miniatures and at least one other company. The biggest problem was that they were tiny, closer to 25mm and not a good fit with the Brigade Games range either in heft or aesthetics. Speaking of which, only the BG mounted versions are vaguely correct and even then there are detail problems, puttees rather than leather leggings. The dismounted versions bear no relation to dismounted ALH in terms of kit.
Eureka don’t do ALH in 28mm, although they do a 15mm range. They do on the other hand make a small but lovely mounted Imperial Camel Corps range. Hopefully dismounts to come.
Don’t know of anyone else producing ALH in 28mm which is a mystery given thecpotential gaming fodder of their storied campaigns.
* He will likely have some competition in the not too distant future with possible charges hanging over the heads of a number of serving and former SAS members including Australia’s most recent VC recipient.
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That figure you painted is one of the Ian Mountain sculpts. OOP now I believe.
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That figure you painted is one of the Ian Mountain sculpts. OOP now I believe.
I got him from an outfit called Lancashire Games a couple of years ago. Still showing as available and for sale on their website.
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They are under “Blaze Away Miniatures” on the Lancashire Games website.
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With all these background information about him this figure comes alive. Thank you, Sir.