NAM.1994-04-107-6

Capt Alan John Bowles, 2nd Bn Royal Berkshire Regiment. Photograph, one of 7, showing portraits at the Royal Military College, 1914 and trenches, 1915. From a group of 114 photographs collected by and relating to the career of Capt Alan John Bowles, 2nd Bn Royal Berkshire Regiment, Royal Military College Sandhurst and the Western Front, World War One, 1914-1916. Trenches were not dug randomly, but were part of a complex design. Each of the front line trenches was backed-up by second and third lines: ‘support’ and ‘reserve’ trenches. Communication trenches linked them all together. The support and reserve trenches were lined with underground shelters or dug-outs which were used as protection from enemy fire and the weather. Bowles was killed in action at La Boiselle, near Albert, on 10 April 1916, while serving with the 1st Battalion.

World War One, Western Front (1914-1918)