Person

Frederick John (known in the family as Fred) was born on 17 May 1890 in Boldon Colliery and was baptised four weeks later in Sunderland. He was the fourth of twelve children of coal miner George and his Suffolk born wife Jane. The oldest of their children, Lillie, was born in 1884, the year of their marriage, and the youngest, Reuben, in 1905. In 1897 the family moved to Jarrow, George started his own business as a coal merchant, and all the younger children were born there. In 1906 George with Thirza and George William left for Canada and in 1912 the rest of the family followed, Fred and Mahala in June, and Jane and the rest in October. The family settled in Winnipeg, and then moved on to try their hand at homesteading in Sandridge, Manitoba, where George was also a lay minister.

Fred, along with two of his younger brothers, joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force. William, his oldest brother, returned to England and enlisted in the Coldstream Guards. Fred was the first to enlist in June 1915 when he became Private 460367 in the 61st Battalion. After initial training, Fred sailed with the battalion in April 1916 from Halifax to Liverpool on board the SS Olympic and then onwards to camp at Shorncliffe, near Folkestone in Kent. June 1916 saw him transferred to the 8th Battalion in France and he joined them in the trenches near Zillebeke, where he was wounded by shrapnel just three days later on 3 July. Severely wounded in his right thigh, Fred was invalided to London, not rejoining the battalion until mid September.

1917 saw him promoted to lance corporal in September, then spending 39 days in hospital in France with Venereal Disease, when he lost his field allowance and lost 50 cents from his pay for each day in hospital. Back on duty in November, just before Christmas he was promoted to corporal and in March 1918 to lance sergeant.

On 5 April 1918 he was dangerously wounded by shrapnel “whilst entering the Ronville Caves at Arras” and was admitted to No. 8 Casualty Clearing Station. He was transferred to 55 General Hospital, Boulogne where both his legs were amputated and he died subsequently from his wounds on 19 April 1918. He is buried in Wimereux Communal Cemetery near Boulogne.

Birth date: 17-May-1890

Death date: 24-April-1918

Armed force/civilian: Army

Residence: 19 West Terrace, Boldon Colliery (1891 census)
1 Derby Street, Jarrow (1901 census)
69 Whitley Road, Whitley Bay (1911 census)
503 Bannerman Avenue, Winnipeg (enlistment papers)
Coldwell, Selkirk, Manitoba (1916 census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta)

Religion: Methodist

Employment: Cartman (1911 census)
Teamster (enlistment papers)

Family: Parents: George Owers, Jane Owers nee Potter
Siblings: Lillie Owers, Thirza Owers, George William Owers, Mary Ann (Polly) Owers, Mahala Jane Owers, Robert Henry Owers, Amy Ada Owers, Albert Edward Owers, James Alfred Owers, Edwin Ernest Owers, Reuben Potter Owers

Military service:

460367
Lance Sergeant
61st Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force
8th Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force

Medal(s): British War Medal
Victory Medal

Gender: Male

Contributed by Jean Longstaff, Durham