Compressed fibre identity disc : Lieutenant M D Cowtan, Royal Army Medical Corps

Circular identity disc made from compressed fibre with a circular hole punched into one side. One side is impressed 'LT M D COWTON RAMC C E'.

Identity disc relating to the service of M D Cowtan with the Royal Army Medical Corps.

Mawer Dougall Cowtan was born at Kensington, England in 1883. He had emigrated to Australia and was working as a grazier in Tasmania when he enlisted in the AIF on 24 October 1914. After initial training he was assigned to 1 Australian Clearing Hospital as a private with the service number 1403, and embarked at Melbourne aboard HMAT Kyarra (A55) on 5 December 1914. After further training in Egypt, Cowtan landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915 with 1 Australian Casualty Clearing Station, and as a consequence of his efforts during the first days of the landing was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal.

In June 1915 Cowtan received a special mention in Divisional Orders for his conspicuous gallantry and valuable service in the period 25 April to 5 May. On 22 June he was evacuated to Egypt suffering from bronchitis. He returned to his unit on Gallipoli only to be evacuated again on 28 July to Alexandria, then on to England a week later where he was treated in a London hospital and then at the Royal Mineral Water Hospital in Bath. He was discharged on 4 November with instructions to take leave. While still in England Cowtan was discharged from the AIF, on 6 February 1916, to be commissioned as a Quartermaster Lieutenant in the Royal Army Medical Corps. He returned to Australia soon after the end of the war.