Rowbotham, Thomas Ernest: Service no. 160382

Source: August 1918 casualty.

Family Search: When Lance-Corporal Thomas Ernest Rowbotham was born on 15 September 1889, in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom, his father, Edmund Rowbotham, was 35 and his mother, Annie Murray, was 33. He had at least 1 son with Helena Mary Wright. He lived in Ecclesall Bierlow, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom for about 10 years. He registered for military service in 1915. In 1915, at the age of 26, his occupation is listed as farmer. He died on 26 August 1918, in Amiens, Somme, Hauts-de-France, France, at the age of 28, and was buried in Tigris Lane Cemetery, Wancourt, Pas-de-Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France.

Summary of Service[i] for Lance Corporal Thomas Ernest Rowbotham, reg. no. 160382

Date	Event	Remarks
15 September 1889	Born	Born at Sheffield, Yorkshire, England to Edmund Rowbotham and Annie Murray.
1912 May	Immigrates	Immigrates to Canada. Point of entry Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.
2 October 1915	Enlists	Enlists with the 82 Battalion at Calgary, Alberta. He is a farmer standing 5’ 10” tall. He has a fail complexion, blue eyes, and brown hair. He has no prior military experience and lists his father as his next-of-kin.
2 October 1915	Medical Exam	Listed as having “Good” physical development. Was subjected to Anti-Typhoid inoculations 8, 18 of October 1915.
October to December 1915	Promotions	Shown as an acting Corporal and then to a Provisional Corporal. Becomes a Provisional Sergeant on 31 December 1915.
5 July 1916	Will	Makes out will leaving his estate to this father.
20 May 1916	Unit Sails	Embarks Halifax, Nova Scotia aboard the Empress of Britain.
30 May 1916	Arrives	Arrives Liverpool.
30 May 1930	Acting Sergeant	Designated as an Acting Sergeant and based at Otterpool.
25 July 1916	Transferred	Transferred to the 9^th Reserve Battalion, St. Martin’s Plain and Taken on Strength.
26 December 1916	Transferred	Transferred to the 35^th Battalion, West Sandling Camp, Kent.
4 January 1917	Transferred	Transferred to the 4^th Reserve Battalion, West Sandling.
9 November 1917	Reverts to Rank of Private	Reverts to permanent grade of Private. Now based at Bramshott.
18 January 1917	Transferred	Transferred to 6^th Reserve Battalion.
1 March 1917	Transferred	Transferred to 4^th Reserve Battalion.
1 March 1917	Transferred	Taken on Strength
9 November 1917	Arrives	Arrives 2 Canadian Infantry Base Depot, Etaples and Taken on Strength with 18^th Battalion.
13 November 1917	Arrives	Arrives at Canadian Corps Reinforcement Camp.
20 November 1917	Joins 18^th Battalion	Joins 18^th Battalion “in the field”. The Battalion was encamped at Viller-Au-Bois and he was one of 56 replacements to arrive at the camp that day. The 18^th Battalion was making good its losses from it recent service at Passchendaele. It stayed at this camp training and Private Rowbotham was in the support trenches, his first exposure to actual service in the trenches, on 29 November 1917.
6 May 1918	Appointed Lance-Corporal	Appointed Lance-Corporal as L. Cpls. A.G. Pengelly was promoted.
26 August 1918	Killed in Action	Originally reported as wounded. Later reported KIA. The Battalion was heavily engaged near Telegraph Hill, near Tilloy France, the day before. On this day the war diary relates: “With the ARRAS-CAMBRAI Road as the left boundary, the Bn. supported the 20th Cdn. Bn. attacked VILLERS GAGINCOURT (VILLERS-ARTOIS) at 10. a.m. By noon, VIS-EN-ARTOIS and the SENSEE RIVER and SENSEE RIVER VALLEY had been reached. At this juncture, a barrage scheduled to continue after half an hours curtailment failed to materialise. Consequently an outpost line running for VIS EN ARTOIS along the West bank of the river had to be formed. Major McIntosh, acting O.C. of the Bn. was wounded while reconnoitring forward positions, and the command of the Unit fell to Major Bell. Lieut. Spence, Comdg “A” Coy., was shot and killed by a German sniper and Lieut. Gerrard suffered severe wounds from shell fire.3 O.Rs to England for Officers course. 2 O.Rs to England for R.A.F. course. Approx. casualties all ranks, 15 killed & 150 wounded. Major J.J. Richardson ret. from Officers Course, Eng. 4 O.Rs to and 2 O.Rs from hospital. 1 O.R. on leave.” As can be see, Lance-Corporal Rowbotham was one of 50 men KIA and 150 wounded. One can imagine the intensity of the combat on that day.
1 September 1918	Buried	This is an unusual entry as most service records to not record date of burial. He rests at Tigris Lane Cemetery along with seven other members the 18^th who were killed between the 26 and 28 of August of 1918. His inscription reads: “WITH LOVE FROM A DEVOTED MOTHER AND SISTERS NINA, DOROTHY AND WINIFRED”
20 July 1920	Memorial Cross	Memorial Cross despatched to Rowbotham’s mother to Priory Mount, Kenwood Park Road, Sheffield, England. Reg. no. C15563.
25 November 1920	Memorial Plaque	Plaque issued (reg. no. P18076) to his mother. These would normal go to his partner.
7 December 1920	Memorial Scroll	Scroll issued (reg. no. Z3475) to his mother. These would normal go to his partner.
About 1920	Medals	Medals issued to his mother. These would normally go to his partner.

[i] The Summary of Service for this soldier is meant as just that, a summary of his service. It is not intended to be an exhaustive biographical relation of his life or his war service. In addition, some errors and omissions may occur. This is a best efforts by a the author who has no professional training in the interpretation of these records. Some information may be deliberately suppressed by the author out of sensitivity to the soldier. Readers are encouraged to reference the actual service records available at the Library and Archives Canada in PDF format if they wish to learn more about this soldier. Such additional information (i.e. hyperlinks etc.) are for informational purpose only and no claim to verification or accuracy is made by the author of this summary.

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