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Auction: 23113 - Orders, Decorations and Medals - e-Auction
Lot: 479

‘A County Durham man, William Lowther was serving as a 2nd Lt with the 5th battalion
when in early May 1918 they were posted to a so called “quiet sector” on the ridge
of the Chemin des Dames.
On May 27th the battalion held a frontage of around two thousand yards on the
Craonne Plateau when at 1-00am “A wholly unexpected German attack” was
launched against the battalion.
To the right and left ground was ceded to the German infantry leaving 2nd Lt
Lowther and the 5th battalion almost surrounded. In this action battalion losses were
severe especially in men missing and captured.
2nd Lt William Lowther was killed in this action on May 27th 1918 at the age of 26.
His body never recovered he is remembered today on the Soissons Memorial which
commemorates the missing of the 1918 actions on the Aisne and the Marne.
He was the son of William Foster Lowther and Margaret Lowther of Copley House,
Butterknowle, in County Durham.’

A Memorial Roll of the Officers of Alexandra Princess of Wales' Own Yorkshire Regiment Who Died 1914 – 1919, by Robert Coulson, refers

Three: 2nd Lieutenant W. Lowther, Yorkshire Regiment, who was killed in action on 27 May 1918

British War and Victory Medals (2. Lieut. W. Lowther); Great War Bronze Memorial Plaque (William Lowther), good very fine (3)

Note the Commonwealth War Graves Commission lists only one 2nd Lieutenant William Lowther as killed in action during the Great War.

William Lowther was born at Lynesack and Softly, Durham in 1892, the son of William and Margaret Lowther of Butterknowle, Lynesack and Softly. Here he worked as an assistant at his father’s grocery shop before the outbreak of the Great War, when he attested with the Royal Garrison Artillery with the service number 99995. Serving in Britain, he applied for a Commission and gave his preference for a Regular posting with the Durham Light Infantry.

Accepted for officer training, he was posted to 17 Officer Cadet Battalion at Rhyl on 7 September 1917. Entering the war in France on 23 April 1918 he joined his Battalion in the field, going into action for the first time during a German attack on 27 May. The testimony of Private W. A. Calderbank goes into further detail, stating: ‘27 May 1918
Lt. Lowther was my Platoon Officer. I saw him shot by a bullet when we were surrounded on May 27th 1918. He was with me on my post, the left hand post of the Battn. all the time of the bombardment. When we saw the Jerries closing in he got on to the parados, was shot and fell into a shell-hole. I saw him lying there face downwards. I think from the way he fell that he was killed. He wasn’t above 6 yards from me. The Germans were all around us and would not let me stay to look further. I believe it was his first time in the line.’

He is commemorated upon the Soissons Memorial.

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Sold for
£260

Starting price
£100