b. ? d. ?
DATE OF EM ACTION: 25/01/1932 Llwynypia Colliery, near Tonypandy, Wales.
Very little is known about the life of miner John Thomas Bowen, other than the actions he performed at Llwynypia Colliery, near Tonypandy, South Wales on 25th January 1932.
EM CITATION:
On the 25th January, 1932, an explosion of firedamp took place in the Llwynypia Colliery, near Tonypandy, and caused poisonous gas to circulate round the ventilating system. Cordey at the time was working with a man named West at some distance from the point where the explosion occurred, but both were affected by the gas. West collapsed, and Cordey took him on his back for thirty yards before he too began to collapse. Leaving West, he made his way to the Main Heading where he found Bowen and Hughes attending to others who had been injured; he was too exhausted to do more than tell them of West’s plight. Bowen and Hughes thereupon went to rescue West. Bowen’s lamp went out indicating the presence of gas, but they pressed on and effected the rescue. Cordey, who had followed them as soon as he could, met them shortly after they started back. All three men deliberately endangered their lives in rescuing their comrade. The risk was unknown, and two rescuers actually lost their lives through venturing rashly into untested air in other parts of the mine.
BURIAL LOCATION: UNKNOWN.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: UNKNOWN.
