Edmund Robert Bowler

Born 21 Jul 1866 - Died 17 Dec 1927

Service number: WWI 11/111 AWMM
WWI 15/111 AWMM
Also known as: —
Armed force / branch: Army AWMM
Last rank: —
War: World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM

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Edmund Robert Bowler — Group comprising (from left) Lieutenant Colonel W B Lesslie, a Canadian officer attached to the Royal Enginers; Private John Simpson Kirkpatrick, 3rd Field Ambulance; Lieutenant-Colonel Edmund Bowler, Beach Commander Gallipoli; and Major C H Villiers-Stuart, Intelligence Officer. In front is Kirkpatrick's donkey "Murphy". Bowler has his arm in a sling because of a wound incurred upon landing. Photograph taken before 17 May 1915, in front of Bowler's dugout, by an unknown photographer. Image kindly provided by Alexander Turnbull Library, 1/2-168106-F. No Known Copyright Restrictions

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Biographical information

Serial Number is recorded as 11/111 in Nominal Rolls, as 15/111 in Archives New Zealand.

Married to Mary Ethel (nee Hepburn), three children Ethel Margaret, Hilda Gordon and Clarisse May.

Prior to serving with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Edmund Robert Bowler also served as Lieutenant with Gore Rifle Volunteers, Captain Mataura Mounted Rifles, Major and then Lieutenant-Colonel 2nd Battalion Otago Mounted Rifles, Lietuenant-Colonel 7th Southland Regiment. After his service with the NZEF he returned to the 7th Southland Regiment.

Bowler was attached to the Headquaters, Australian New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), and was believed to have been one of the first ashore at Gallipoli, where he served as Beach Landing Officer and then Commandant of ANZAC cove. He was admitted to Hospital in August 1915, and then stuck off stength, NZEF. He later became a vocal critic of the Gallipoli Campaign, urging the British High Commissioner to withdraw troops from Gallipoli. AWMM
Edmund Bowler’s landing at Gallipoli: First member of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force ashore

It has been stated that Edmund Bowler was the first New Zealander ashore at Gallipoli and that he landed among the initial landers at 4.30 am 25 April 1915.

Based on clear documentary evidence held by the Australian War Memorial Museum and National Archives of Australia the following facts are established:

•Edmund Bowler did not land on Gallipoli with the initial landers of the AIF at 4.30am, he was still aboard the transport Lake Michigan which was steaming towards its designated mooring. He was aboard with the 4th Battalion Australian Imperial Force as their Beach Officer. The troops aboard were not involved in the initial landing.
•New Zealanders serving in the AIF were initial landers, stepping ashore at 4.30am at Gallipoli some 2-3 hours before Bowler. A handful of New Zealanders were in the actual lead boats of the initial wave. Who the first New Zealanders ashore was will probably never be known.
•Bowler landed in the lead boat of the 4th Battalion from the transport A8 Lake Michigan between 7.00 and 8.00am 25 April 1915, 2.5-3.5 hours after the initial landing.
•Edmund Bowler’s description of his landing tallis with the reports and diaries of the landing by this later wave of the AIF
•The book by Frank Glen Bowler of Gallipoli has a number of errors in it regarding the time of Bowler’s landing, surprising as the documentary evidence was readily available to him as he undertook research for it.
•Bowler as Beach Officer for 4 Battalion AIF was likely the first member of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force to land on Gallipoli, as he appears to have stepped ashore before any units of the NZEF landed.
•These facts are verified by numerous official military unit records of the AIF held by the Australian War Memorial Museum and National Archives Australia.

This information does not diminish Edmund Bowler’s achievements, it simply clarifies aspects of the record of a very courageous man, courage as a soldier and courage as a man of integrity.
Public - John - Researcher - 29 October 2024 - Personnel file
Biography by Frank Glen, Bowler of Gallipoli
Documentation:

Australian War Memorial Museum:
AWM4 Australian Imperial Force Unit War Diaries 1914-18 War.
Formation Headquarters. Item Number 1/42/3 Part 2.
Title: General Staff Headquarters 1st Australian Division. April 1915.

Item Number 23/21/3.
Title: 4th Infantry Battalion
This Battalion War Diary records the events of the landing, including the landing of units from their transport A8 Lake Michigan

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Edmund Robert Bowler

Edmund Robert Bowler

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