Date of birth: 20/09/1886

Place of birth: Skelton, Cumberland, England, United Kingdom

Last known residence: 18 Rigg Street, Caldewgate, Carlisle, England, United Kingdom

Profession: Railway Porter

Country: England, United Kingdom

Force: British Expeditionary Force

Rank: Able Seaman

Service number: R/1379

Enlistment date: 10/05/1917

Units:  —  Nelson Bn.  (Last known unit)  —  4th Reserve Battalion Blandford

Date of death: 01/11/1917

Place of death: Banff House, Poelcapelle, Belgium

Cause of death: Killed in action (K.I.A.)

Age: 31

British War Medal Medal

Victory Medal Medal

Joseph Howson was born on 20 September 1886 in Skelton, Cumberland. He lost his father at a young age. In the 1891 census, his mother was already listed as a widow. He then had two older brothers, Herbert and George. When he was 8 years old, Joseph and his brothers were sent to an orphanage in Banff, Scotland where Herbert and George both died, leaving Jo as the only one of the family. At the age of 24 he turns up again, working as a station porter in Carlisle, Cumberland. He later married Dinah Ann Hodgson, with whom he had four daughters. During the war, on 10 May 1917, he was mobilised and assigned to the 4th Reserve Battalion Blandford, part of the 63rd (Royal Naval Division).

On 31 July 1917, he was assigned to the 5th (Nelson) Battalion of the 2nd Royal Naval Brigade, also known as the 189th Brigade. The Royal Naval Division was on the Flemish front in late October 1917, where it took part in the Second Battle of Passchendaele, part of the Greater Passchendaele Battle. The division's brigades were located southeast of Poelkapelle, between Lekkerboterbeek and Wallemolen. On 26 October 1917, the 188th Brigade was able to capture Varlet Farm and Banff House, while the 189th Brigade was in reserve. The same evening, Banff House was recaptured by German troops. Twice, the 188th Brigade tried unsuccessfully to storm Banff House. A third attack on 31 October, led by the 189th Brigade, was to take the Germans by surprise. Preparatory shelling was abandoned so as not to alarm the German garrison. Under the cover of darkness at 9pm, small groups of the Nelson and Hawke battalions managed to capture the position. German retaliation was not long in coming and the captured positions were heavily shelled on 1 November.

Able Seaman Joseph Howson fell on 1 November 1917 at the age of 31. He has no known grave and is commemorated on panel 2 of the Tyne Cot Memorial. Joseph survived the orphanage in Banff Scotland before being killed at Banff House in Belgium.

5 Nelson Battalion (The National Archives, KEW (TNA), WO 95/3114/3). https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk Sources used

Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891 (The National Archives, Kew (TNA), RG12). https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ Sources used

Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911 (The National Archives, Kew (TNA), RG14). https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ Sources used

Douglas Jerrold, The Royal Naval Division, (uckfield, The Naval & Military Press, 1923), 259-261. Sources used

McCarthy Chris., Passchendaele. The Day-by-Day Account (London, Unicorn Publishing Group, 2018), 154 + 158. Sources used

Swales Roy, Nelson at War 1914-1918, a history of Nelson Battalion of the Royal Naval Division (Barnsley SY, Pen & Sword Select, 2004), 174-179. Sources used

UK, World War I Service Medal and Awards Rolls, 1914-1920(The National Archives, Kew (TNA), WO 329). https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk Sources used

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/837485

Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/6106306

Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=b00519d7-ed96-4cae-bff1-ad1b72012ff3