Oswald Hayward Stowe was born in Capel St Mary, Suffolk, on 2nd May 1884. He was the son of William and Eliza. In 1911, the family lived in Barking, near Needham Market, and Oswald worked as a carpenter. By 1913 Oswald had moved to Melton where he met Ivy May King, the daughter of Thomas King, head gardener to James Burness of The Lodge, Melton. Ivy and Oswald married on 8th February 1913 and lived at Pinkneys, on Turnpike Lane, Melton.

When war broke out, Oswald remained in Melton and continued to work as a carpenter for a local builder. It was not until 8th November 1915 that he enlisted, joining the Army Service Corps and then being posted to 512 Horse Transport Company, who were part of the 58th (London) Divisional Train. In the early days of the war, a divisional train comprised twenty officers and four hundred and two men who managed the transportation of stores and supplies to the infantry on the front line. They tended to three hundred and seventy-eight horses, one hundred and twenty-five wagons, seventeen carts and thirty bicycles. As a “wheeler”, Oswald’s role in the divisional train was to maintain the wheels on the wagons and carts.

The 58th Division was posted to France on 3rd February 1917, embarking from Southampton on board the SS Northwestern Miller, a Canadian troop carrier bound for Le Havre. The division remained in France for the rest of the war, taking part in a number of engagements.

In 1917, they took part in the Third Battle of Ypres commonly known as “Passchendaele”. The following year, they fought during the German Spring Offensive between 21st March and 5th April and during the One Hundred Days Offensive between 8th August and 11th November. Oswald was demobilised on 2nd March 1919 and discharged the following month. He returned home to Pinkney’s and resumed his job as a carpenter. For his war service, Oswald received the British War and Victory Medals. In 1939, Oswald and Ivy were living at 5 Council Houses, Melton, and he was still working as a carpenter for a local building firm.

Oswald’s younger brothers, William Hayward Stowe and Herbert Capel Stowe, also served during the war. Both went to France with the 4th Suffolks before they were transferred to the 8th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment. William died of wounds he received on a working party on 15th August 1917.