DOWLING, Esric Montague
| Service Number: | 2878 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 20 August 1915, Enlisted at Warwick Farm, NSW |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 17th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Dalton, New South Wales, Australia, 1893 |
| Home Town: | Dalton, Upper Lachlan Shire, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Felled Timber Creek Public School, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Engine Cleaner |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 20 June 1916 |
| Cemetery: |
Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension, Nord Plot 11,Row E, Grave 181 Rev. A.F. Fenn officiated. IN MEMORY OF THE LOVED SON OF M. & J. DOWLING PEACE PERFECT PEACE |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Goulburn District Railway Employees Great War Honour Roll, Gunning Anglican Church Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 20 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2878, 17th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Warwick Farm, NSW | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Nov 1915: | Involvement Private, 2878, 17th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: '' | |
| 2 Nov 1915: | Embarked Private, 2878, 17th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Sydney | |
| 20 Jun 1916: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 2878, 17th Infantry Battalion, Shell wounds to head and both legs |
Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board
Esric (Eric) Montague DOWLING (Service Number 2878), was born at ’Pearcefield’, Dalton, NSW, in 1893 (In his birth record available on-line at Births, Deaths and Marriages, NSW, his first name is given as Esrie). He went to school at Felled Timber Creek Public School. Unfortunately, no record is available that can confirm when he joined the NSWGR&T, but his name appears on a Roll of Honour published in NSW Railway and Tramway Magazine of 1 February 1918, which lists him as having been in the Locomotive Branch. In his Attestation Paper, filled in when he joined the AIF, he gives his occupation as cleaner.
He joined the AIF on 20 August 1915 with the rank of Private (Service No. 2878), and he was posted to the 6th Reinforcements to the 17th Infantry Battalion.
On 20th June 1916 he was wounded in action, receiving shell wounds to his head and both legs. He died of his wounds the same day. Information in a Red Cross Enquiry Bureau file for him describes the circumstances of his death. W.H Cullen (2891) stated: ‘I knew Dowling well he and I were in 6th Reinforcements to 17th Battn. He was with others in a Billet at Bois Grein [or Bois Grenier, near Armentières] having a lecture on the Machine Gun, he had just joined the Machine Gun Section. A shell came through the roof of the billet, killed one and wounded several others Dowling amongst them. I was not there but was told about it by Pte. Ted Cox (a Stretcher Bearer) who was there and carried them to the small hospital for first aid. About 2 days later we heard he had died. He was badly wounded in the leg which was subsequently amputated. … Dowling I understood died at a hospital.’
Submitted 17 June 2023 by John Oakes
Biography contributed by Carol Foster
Son of John and Margaret Dowling of 'Pearcefield' Dalton.NSW
Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
Biography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Esric Dowling arrived in France during late March 1916. In a communication to home he stated he had been in the trenches almost continually from the day of his arrival. He said the trenches were the safest place. Dowling met his death while resting in billets.
A letter was printed in the Goulburn Evening Penny Post a few months after the death of Private E.M. Dowling, from Captain Basil Holmes, who was his Company Commander.
"Somewhere in France." Dear Mr. and Mrs. Dowling, —Will you accept from your son's Company Commander his heartfelt sympathies in the death of Pte. Esric M. Dowling. I know it must be a terrible blow for you. We all regret it very much here. He will most certainly be missed from the ranks of No. 9 Platoon as a good comrade, and by me as one of my best men and soldiers. He was badly wounded by pieces of a German high explosive shell which struck the billets where he was resting after coming out of the trenches. At the time he was being attached to the Machine Gun Company. The same shell killed two other men and wounded twelve. As a doctor was on the spot, he received the best medical attention at once, and was then taken to the hospital at Bailleul, where he died. He was buried with military honours in Bailleul cemetery, the Rev. E. H. Feine officiating. Yesterday we received our first mail for a month, and over twenty letters arrived from his many sisters. Will you please convey to all your family my sincerest sympathy in your bereavement, BASIL HOLMES, Capt., O.C.C. Company, 17th Battalion.
Dowling was the first man from Dalton, New South Wales to lose his life in WW1 and he is remembered on a plaque in St Edmund's Anglican Church Roll of Honour, Gunning, New South Wales: 'In memory of the men of this Parish who made the supreme sacrifice of their life in the fight for Truth and Freedom.'
Biography contributed by John Oakes
Esric (Eric) Montague DOWLING (Service Number 2878) was born at ’Pearcefield’, Dalton, NSW, in 1893 He went to school at Felled Timber Creek Public School. His name appears on a Roll of Honour published in NSW Railway and Tramway Magazine of 1st February 1918, which lists him as having been in the Locomotive Branch. In his Attestation Paper, filled in when he joined the AIF, he gives his occupation as cleaner.
He joined the AIF on 20th August 1915 with the rank of Private (Service No. 2878). He was posted to the 6th Reinforcements and the 17th Infantry Battalion. He nominated his father, John Dowling of Dalton, as his next of kin.
Esric embarked for Egypt aboard HMAT A14 ‘Euripides’ at Sydney on 2nd November 1915. He joined the 17th Battalion in Egypt on 6th February 1916. On 17th March 1916 he embarked at Alexandria for France, arriving there on 23rd March 1916.
On 20th June 1916 he was wounded in action. He received shell wounds to his head and both legs. He died of his wounds on the same day. W.H Cullen (2891) stated: ‘I knew Dowling well he and I were in 6th Reinforcements to 17th Battn. He was with others in a Billet at Bois Grein [or Bois Grenier, near Armentières] having a lecture on the Machine Gun, he had just joined the Machine Gun Section. A shell came through the roof of the billet, killed one and wounded several others Dowling amongst them. I was not there but was told about it by Pte. Ted Cox (a Stretcher Bearer) who was there and carried them to the small hospital for first aid. About 2 days later we heard he had died. He was badly wounded in the leg which was subsequently amputated. … Dowling I understood died at a hospital.’
Esric’s grave is in Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension (Nord), Lille, Nord Pas de Calais, France.
A number of the letters Esric wrote home after he left Australia, and the letter from his Commanding Officer to his parents after his death, were published in the Goulburn Evening Penny Post between February and October 1916, including one from Esric which was published on the day he died. A death notice for him appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald of 21 August 1916.
- based on notes for the Great Sydney Central Stationn Honour Board
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