British War Medal 1914-20: Second Lieutenant Cedric Lloyd Charles Lowden, 36 Battalion, AIF

British War Medal 1914- 1920. Impressed around the edge with the recipient's details.

Cedric Lloyd Charles Lowden was 19 years old when he enlisted with the AIF. Given his age, he required the consent of his parents to enlist. He had previously served for four years in the Senior Cadets. Enlisting on 7 February 1916 Serving as a Corporal with D Company, 36 Battalion, Lowden and his unit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A72 Beltana on 13 May 1916. He was promoted to Second Lieutenant on 25 May 1917.

Official records state that Lowden died at the Advanced Dressing Station, 10 Australian Field Ambulance, on 19 July 1917 at Messines, Belgium from wounds he received the day before. However, eye witness accounts in his service record that he “was killed by shell near GAPAARD (MESSINES) SECTOR. Death was instantaneous. He was buried near Owl Trench by Chaplain Richmond on 20.7.17.” In November 1919, his parents were informed that “where members of the Australian Imperial Force have been buried in isolated graves their remains will be exhumed and re-interred”, however it appears his grave was lost or his remains unidentifiable and with no known grave, he is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres.

Lowden's British War Medal was sent to his father in 1922.

• Victory Medal: Second Lieutenant Cedric Lloyd Charles Lowden, 36 Battalion, AIF