Frederick Howis was born in Ashburton, Devon, at the time of enlistment he lived Pontllanfraith, Monmouthshire. For some time before the war he was a jockey and his wife was a school teacher – though this may have been after her husband’s death. On the 29th December 1917 the Malvern News reported:

“The widow of Pte F Howis (the daughter of Mr Walter Smith, The Hawthorns, Upper Welland) received a letter from her husband’s platoon officer:

“‘You will no doubt have read the great part our regiment played at the battle of ___. Your husband played his part as nobly as any. He was shot by a sniper and hit again by shrapnel before he could be conveyed to the dressing station. I have known your husband about six months as the best man in my platoon. He was at all times a soldier and a gentleman. He was keen at his work; the best sniper in the Battalion and everyone loved him. His loss is a great blow to me and the platoon.'”

His brother-in-law, Albert Smith died of wounds received during the Great War with the 1/8th Worcesters.

Malvern News 22/2/19
Dorothy Stewart 2004