In the August of 1914 three brothers were among the hundreds of thousands of eager young men to answer Lord Kitchener’s call to arms.
The surname “Sowrey” probably did not even register on the recruitment forms. The student sons of a senior civil servant from the tax inspectorate who lived at a farm near Staines were, after all, just a few of so many other family members who signed up together to fight.
John, the eldest, who was newly graduated from King’s College London, was appointed a temporary second lieutenant in the 6th Battalion Queen’s Regiment. Fred, the middle son, interrupted his studies to join the 12th Battalion Royal Fusiliers and fought at the Battle of Loos where his regiment...