Thomas Curtis Lowe

Thomas Curtis Lowe was born around 1888 at Branks Farm, Bakestone Moor, Whitwell, Derbyshire, England. He grew up in a remarkable sporting family. His brother Harry Lowe captained Liverpool Football Club between 1913 and 1915 and earned the nickname “Captain Courageous,” while another brother, Charlie Lowe, played county cricket for Derbyshire. Thomas followed a different path, becoming one of thousands of ordinary working men who answered Britain’s call to arms during the First World War.

He married Florence Hardy of Whitwell, and the couple welcomed a daughter, Marjorie, in December 1914. Their young family had little time together before war intervened. Thomas enlisted at Worksop and joined the 11th (Service) Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment), one of Kitchener’s New Army battalions formed largely from volunteers from the mining communities of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.

Private Lowe arrived in France on 29 August 1915 and soon found himself serving on the Western Front during some of the most brutal fighting of the war. On 1 July 1916, the opening day of the Battle of the Somme, the 11th Sherwood Foresters attacked near the Leipzig Salient. The battalion suffered devastating losses, with more than five hundred casualties in a single day. Thomas survived the slaughter and remained with his battalion as the Somme offensive continued.

By late July 1916, the battalion was engaged in the fierce fighting around Bazentin-le-Petit, Contalmaison, and Pozières, among the bloodiest battlefields of the campaign. During operations on the night of 25 July 1916, Thomas was seriously wounded by enemy fire. He was attended by comrades and medical personnel but succumbed to his wounds shortly after midnight.

A letter sent to his widow recorded his final moments. Having briefly regained consciousness, he asked that his love be passed to his wife and child before peacefully passing away. The letter also described how a piece of shrapnel had torn through the pocket containing his paybook and photographs of his family.

Private Thomas Curtis Lowe was 28 years old. His body was never recovered, and he has no known grave. Today he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, where more than 72,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers who died on the Somme and have no known resting place are remembered. He is also honoured on the Whitwell Village War Memorial in Derbyshire.

For his service and sacrifice, he was posthumously awarded the 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, and Victory Medal. His family also received the Memorial Plaque and Memorial Scroll issued to the next of kin of those who gave their lives during the Great War.

Thomas Curtis Lowe was one of millions of ordinary men whose courage carried extraordinary consequences. A Derbyshire farm worker, husband, and father, he left behind a young wife and an eighteen-month-old daughter who would grow up with only stories and photographs of the father she never truly knew. His sacrifice remains part of the enduring legacy of the Somme and of a generation that gave so much in service to their country.