PLEASE NOTE
This soldier's story does not reflect the behaviour that one normally associates with members of the Parachute Regiment. However, it is accurate to the best of our knowledge and based upon publicly available information from reputable data sources.
It must be stressed that, as described in this story Bowler's military character was "entirely unsatisfactory.
Please contact us if you have any information whatsoever you can add to enable us to ensure this story is as accurate as possible

4858813 Private Dennis Raymond Bowler was born on the 4th of May 1922 in Loughborough, Leicestershire to parents Claude Harold Bowler and Edith Annie Bowler (née Bennett). He was the eldest of their 4 children.

In 1939, Dennis's parents were living at 23 Castledine Street Extension, Loughborough with Dennis's younger siblings. However, there is no record of him living at the address at this time. We do know, however, that in October 1941 he was bound over at Norwich on a charge of housebreaking. This was before the formation of the Parachute Regiment, so he could not have been a member of the Regiment at this time. We do not know if he was serving elsewhere.

Our current research into Dennis's military service during World War 2 has led us to evidence of circumstances and events that are not a direct part of his military service and which, potentially, adversely impact upon the efforts of the brave men of the 11^th Parachute Battalion.

A few months before being deployed to Arnhem, a newspaper report in the Nottingham Evening Post dated 27 March 1944, told he had appeared in Leicester Assizes earlier that day charged with another soldier for an offence of robbery on an American soldier. For this offence he was sentenced to one month imprisonment and nine strokes of the cat for robbery and shopbreaking. This sentence would have been served prior to the Battle of Arnhem. It also shows his address as 23 Castledine Street Extension, Loughborough, the same address as his parents in 1939.

Military records after the Battle of Arnhem report that he went missing during the battle:

• Casualty List No 1581 - Dated 1944 - reported as missing in North West Europe on 25 September 1944.
• Casualty List No 1581 - Dated 19 Oct 1944 - reported as missing in North West Europe on 25 September 1944.
  (Casualty List No. 1581 appears twice in the original War Office records — once dated by year only and once with the full date. This is a quirk of those documents and not an error in this record.)
• Casualty List No. 1590 - Dated 30 Oct 1944 - Previously reported Missing Casualty List No. 1581 now Not Missing.

What happened to Bowler between 25 September and his removal from the missing list on 30 October 1944 is not known. The available records give no explanation of whether he evaded capture, was taken prisoner and released, or became separated from his unit during the chaos of the withdrawal from Arnhem. This remains an unresolved part of his story.

The Leicester Mercury reports that on 8^th January 1945 he was sentenced to four years' imprisonment for being in possession of house-breaking implements and a loaded German automatic pistol that had been brought back from Arnhem. Bowler denied he had brought the weapon back from Arnhem, claiming a friend had given it to him since he did not want it in his own kit bag. This claim was not substantiated.

Bowler's military service was confirmed by an officer from his unit who also said:
"Bowler's military character was entirely unsatisfactory, and his commanding officer did not want him back."
Perhaps more telling about the impact the battle had on the battalion was the officer's reply when asked by the court why someone who knew more about Bowler had not attended court:
"The remnants coming back from Arnhem were very few."

After being sentenced to 4 years imprisonment, it was only a short time until Bowler found himself appearing in court again. In spite of being bound over to keep the peace for previous offences of common assault Bowler was found guilty of committing a more serious assault occasioning actual bodily harm in 1949. After having failed to appear in court when appealing against the severity of what was described as a "drunken brawl" he was sentenced to one year's imprisonment.

Bowler's history of offending continued, as shown in these newspaper reports up to just a few years before his death.

Dennis died in 1970 aged 47.

---

We are still researching the life of Private Bowler. If you are a relative or have any information about him, please contact us.