Egypt War Medal 1882-89

Obverse: Head of Queen Victoria in a diadem and veil (left) Legend: 'VICTORIA REGINA ET IMPERATRIX'. Reverse: the sphinx on an ornamental platform. Legend: 'EGYPT'. Exergue '1882'. Inscription on edge: 'J.S. DOWELL. A.B. H.M.S. JUMNA'. Suspended from a clasp and blue ribbon with two white stripes.

John Samuel Dowell (1862-1937) was born in Wyke Regis, Dorset the son of a bootmaker. He was one of seven children and his mother died when he was eight. He briefly worked as one of the crew of ‘Ravensworth’ of Weymouth in 1877 before joining the Royal Navy in 1878. After training, he spent 1879 in the Mediterranean based at Malta, in ‘Hibernia’, ‘Rapid’ and ‘Bittern. An ordinary seaman from 1880, he signed up for ten years’ service. From 14 January 1882 to 25 April 1884 he served in the troopship HMS ‘Jumna’, which mainly operated between India and the United Kingdom via Aden and Suez. By August 1882 she had been diverted to transporting troops for active service in Egypt then underwent an extensive refit. She went back to her previous roll but during the war in Sudan, in February 1884, ‘Jumna’ transported troops for the defence of the Red Sea port of Suakin. Dowell served in ‘Bacchante’ from 14 April 1885 to 6 November 1888. Following a refit, she became flagship on the East Indies station. She arrived at Rangoon in November 1885 during the Third Anglo-Burmese War, her crew then manned gunboats on the Irrawaddy River. Dowell served as Leading Seaman from June 1886 and later as Captain’s cox. After more than three years cruising the Indian Ocean, ‘Bacchante’ returned to the United Kingdom in late 1888 and her crew were paid off. Dowell was entitled to the India General Service Medal with a bar for ‘Burma 1885-7’, however this is not in the Museum’s collections. He remained in British waters until 21 December 1891 when he was stationed in Malta. From 18 November 1892 he served in the newly-commissioned HMS ‘Melita’- unusual in having been built in Malta Dockyard. Dowell spent the next three years in the Mediterranean. During the last years of his naval career he was stationed in home waters until his retirement in 1900 with the rank of Petty Officer 1st Class, after which he joined the Royal Fleet Reserve in Portsmouth.

He returned to his home town in Dorset, where he worked as a school caretaker. He married Mary Ann Randell in Wyke Regis on 2 August 1891 and the couple had two daughters – Nellie Melita Dowell and May Selwood Dowell. John Samuel Dowell died at Weymouth.