TOMORROW is Remembrance Day and a national day off work, though the actual holiday will occur on Monday, a normal workday.

While we lounge about at home or on the beach, perhaps we could all take a bit of time on both November 11 and 13 to think of the 126 Bermudians who perished on active duty in the two World Wars and the Korean War and be grateful for their ultimate sacrifice.

The Korean War is often referred to as 'The Forgotten War', so this article seeks to remember the only Bermudian apparently lost in that very nasty conflict in the often frozen countryside of the Korean peninsula.

HENRY Eric Dowling was born on July 15, 1921 in New York City to Theophilus and Lillian Fozard Dowling and was baptised there at St. Philip's Church on October 9.

The family later returned to Bermuda, where Henry grew up. Having dual nationality, Henry's application for an American passport was granted on November 13, 1943 by the Consulate General in Hamilton.

In March 1944, a note confirms that 'Mr. Eric Dowling has been employed on the new West End School for the past five months and is now through. He is eligible to seek employment elsewhere'.

The further employment that Henry may have had in mind surfaces the following year, when in July he was ordered to report for induction into the United States Army 'at the 221st Station Hospital, Fort Bell, Bermuda on August 9, 1945 at 2.00 p.m.'

He had passed the physical examination at the US Naval Operating Base in Southampton, a short distance from Herman's Hill in Somerset, where the family had settled, his mother Lillian having secondarily married the renowned cedar craftsman John Davis.

According to a note under the letterhead of The Country Souvenir and Antique Shop, John E. M. Davis, Master Craftsman: 'Eric was called into the Army during Sept. 1945 and had basic training at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland. From there he was sent to Le Havre, France, later transferred to Germany where he was stationed on the Rhein, Vilseck, Mannheim, Darmstadt, Kitzingen, Fuerth and Neckarau. Subsequently at the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg, the scene of the historic war crimes trial, he had the distinct honour of being a court room guard for 8 months.'

DOWLING spent three years in Germany and returned to the United States in June 1949, then spending his first furlough in Bermuda for six weeks that September. Later that year, he had another furlough to spend his first Christmas at home since 1945 and thereafter was posted to California and Japan.

By November 1950 he was in Korea and 'his last letter to us was posted on Dec. 18 saying he was well, which was received on Dec. 27 and we were so glad to hear again from him'.

On January 9, 1951, his mother received a telegram that The Secretary of the Army has asked me to express his deep regret that your son Cpl Dowling Henry E was killed in action in Korea 19 Dec 50 confirming letter follows.

He was but 29 years old. Corporal Dowling was killed while on patrol near Hungnam, a major seaport on the eastern coast of North Korea fronting the Sea of Japan. He was temporarily buried in a United Nations Military Cemetery nearby; it is not known if his remains were brought to the USA or Bermuda.

Oddly, a service record gives his place of belonging as the Virgin Islands, while otherwise correctly stating that he was in 1 Company, 15 Infantry Regiment of the large 3 Infantry Division. On February 1, 1951, Cpl. Henry Eric Dowling was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, according to a letter to his mother: The medal, which you will receive in a short time, is of slight intrinsic value, but rich with the tradition for which Americans have so gallantly given their lives ever since the days of George Washington, whose profile and coat of arms adorn the medal.

Latterly it was recorded that 'Corporal Henry E. Dowling, RA 30 001 441, Infantry awarded the Silver Star (posthumously) for Gallantry in Action'. It is not known where his medals are, but the certificates relating to Corporal Dowling's service awards at present hang in the Officers' Mess of the Bermuda Regiment at Warwick Camp.

Sometimes called the 'Dunkirk' of the Korean War, the evacuation of American forces from northern Korea took place through Hungnam in late 1950, subsequent to a major offensive by the Chinese Army.

The last troops of Corporal Dowling's 3 Infantry Division were evacuated on Christmas Eve 1950, five days after his death. Had he survived to evacuate, he may not have lived through the war in which 54,246 Americans were Killed in Action and more than 8,000 were Missing in Action.

Other Bermudians may also have served in the Korean War, but they survived to enjoy the fruits of the prosperous post-war era, as we do today. This era was made possible by the sacrifices of Bermudians and other service personnel in the two World Wars, Korea and Vietnam.

Editorial note: The writer thanks Ira Philip and Andrew Bermingham for their contributions to this article.

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Dr. Edward Harris, MBE, JP, FSA, Bermudian, is the Executive Director of the Bermuda Maritime Museum. The views expressed here are his opinion, not necessarily those of the trustees or staff of the Museum. Comments can be sent to drharrislogic.bm, to PO Box MA 133, Sandys MABX, or by telephone at 799-5480.