Pair: Private A. Dowie, 20th (1st Tyneside Scottish) Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers, who was killed in action on the First Day of the Battle of the Somme, 1 July 1916, when the Battalion was virtually wiped out

British War and Victory Medals (20-750 Pte. A. Dowie. North’d Fus.) nearly extremely fine (2) £240-£280

Andrew Dowie was born in Sunderland on 9 July 1895 and attested for the Northumberland Fusiliers. He served with the 20th (1st Tyneside Scottish) Battalion during the Great War on the Western Front from 1916, and was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, 1 July 1916. The Battalion advanced together with the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd (2nd, 3rd, and 4th Tyneside Scottish) Battalions up Mash Valley north of La Boisselle, across the widest part of No Man’s Land, and were almost completely destroyed within minutes of leaving their start positions. Of the 80 officers that went into action from the 4 battalions only 10 returned, and of the men some 80% became casualties. There were 940 all ranks killed and some 1,500 wounded, with the 20th Battalion losing every Officer and Sergeant.

Dowie has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, France.

Sold with copied Medal Index Card; copied Birth Certificate; and Battalion War Diary extract.