Passchendaele 29 October 1917. Frank Hurley.
Australian War Memorial A.N. E01220
Lieutenant Joseph Ladislas Sowinski MC
Trench Mortar Battery, Royal Field Artillery
Killed in Action
Date of Birth: 1890
Place of Birth: London
Date of Death: 28 November 1917 aged 27
Buried: Buried in Vlamertinghe New Military Cemetery, Belgium. Remembered on Royal Artillery Roll of Honour.
Awarded the Military Cross, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal
Mentioned in Dispatched Twice
Lieutenant Joseph Ladislas Sowinski, MC, age 27.
Born 1890 in London the only son of John, a furrier, and Eva Sowinksi.
In 1901 they are living in Marylebone and by 1911 the family are shown at Hampstead, Joseph is assistant in his father's business.
Joseph went to Argentina in 1912 and worked on a cattle ranch.
John and Eva Sowinski moved to Oak Cottage, Ferndale Road, Teignmouth.
Returning to England in March 1915 he was gazetted 2nd Lieutenant on 12 July 1915 and went to France on 8 November with 1st West Riding Brigade, Royal Field Artillery.
Mentioned in Despatches twice
He was twice Mentioned in Despatches for gallant distinguished conduct and was awarded the posthumous Military Cross in 1918.
Joseph was serving with 49th Division, Trench Mortar Battery, Royal Field Artillery when he was killed on Passchendaele Ridge on 28 November 1917.
Buried in Vlamertinghe New Military Cemetery, Belgium. Remembered on Royal Artillery Roll of Honour.
Transcript of the clipping from De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour:
Sowinski, Joseph Ladislas, M.C., Lieutenant; 1st West Riding Brigade, Royal Field Artillery (T.F.), attached, V 49 Trench Mortar Battery, only son of John Ladislas Sowinski, of 5, Piccadilly Arcade, S.W. and 73, Bridge Lane, Golders Green, London, N.W., Furrier, by his wife, Eva, daughter of Moseiey Ezekiel, of Liverpool.
Clipping from De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour
Born London, 13 Sept. 1890; educated Colchester Court, and at St. Paul's Kensington, W. went to the Argentine in Feb. 1912, and settled there as the manager of a cattle ranch.
Returned to England in March, 1915 joined the Inns of Court O.T.C.; gazetted 2nd Lieutenant 12 July following; served with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders from 8 Nov. 1915, and was killed in action on the Passchendale Ridge 28 Nov. 1917.
Buried in the New Military Cemetery, Vlamertinghe.
He was twice mentioned in Despatches by F.M. Sir Douglas Haig [London Gazettes, 18 May and 14 Dec. I917], for gallant and distinguished service in the fleld, and awarded the Military Cross [London Gazette, 23 April, 1918].
"For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty as Forward Observation Officer following the infantry in an attack. Although his leg was injured, he remained with the front line, reconnoitring the front, and ascertained the difficulties and intentions of the attacking troops, and under a heavy barrage also visited the supporting troops. He was thus able to furnish most valuable information at a critical time." An officer wrote: "I cannot tell you how much we shall miss him. Everybody knew him, for his bravery was well known through the division. He has been a close friend of mine ever since he joined us." Unm.
The Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele)
This was one of the bloodiest campaigns fought on the Western Front.
It was made up of a series of battles and attacks between 31 July to 10 November 1917.
It started to rain heavily during the afternoon of the first day of the battle.
The rain then continued, quickly turning the war-torn landscape into a quagmire, thousands of men and animals drowned in the mud.
I died in hell, They called it Passchendaele.
Soldier poet Siegfried Sassoon
Hundreds of thousands of men died on both sides.
The bodies of more than 35,000 men from the battle were never found, they were lost in the mud.
