John Taylor and Ann Norman have submitted the following:
Matthew Lowes was born on 11th November 1892, the eldest child of Matthew Lowes, a coal hewer, and his wife Ellen. He married Rosanna Steel in late 1913 and they lived with her family at 15 Wrekenton Row.
He enlisted with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve with the Hawke Battalion Royal Naval Division, a shore based infantry unit on 11th November 1914. His service number was Tyneside. Z./1391, and his rank was Able Seaman. He suffered from Jaundice which required hospital treatment in the UK, before rejoining his Battalion. His cause of death is recorded as “killed or died as a direct result of enemy action” on 7th April 1918. He is buried in plot: VI. D. 73 at the Doullens Communal Cemetery, Doullens, Departement de la Somme, Picardie, France. He is also remembered with a photograph in the Gateshead War Honours Scrapbook.
He is remembered in Eighton Banks on E50.01 E50.02 and E50.04
