Skegness Magazine

Source: Skegness News 1952

FOUND DROWNED IN SKEGNESS WATERWAY
SAD END OF FORMER FIREMAN WHO HAD BEEN BLOWN UP IN THE SHEFFIELD BLITZ
“ACCIDENTAL DEATH” VERDICT RETURNED
HOW a nine year old Skegness schoolboy, James William Carter, and his friends came across the body of a man in the Waterway on the North Parade at Skegness was related at the inquest on Monday into the death of Frederick Charles Bowman, aged 54, of 14, Wainfleet Road, Skegness, Mr. J. C. Walter (Deputy Coroner for the Skegness district) conducted the enquiry.
George Ernest Kirk, son-in-law of the deceased, of 18, Wainfleet Road, gave evidence of identification.
James William Carter, a schoolboy, of 9, Eudo Road, Skegness, said that he was playing with some friends around the amusement park and waterway when they saw something like a barrel floating on the waterway. When they went nearer they saw it was the body of a man and they went and told the police.

NERVES AFFECTED
Mrs. Dorothy Bowman, wife of deceased, said that that during the war her husband had been driving a fire-engine during the big Sheffield blitz when a parachute mine had exploded nearby.
This had affected his nerves and he had been unable to work. From that time his nerves had deteriorated and his limbs gradually appeared to be affected. In 1949 his condition became worse and it began to affect his mind.
However, his mental condition improved after a period in hospital though he still remained under the doctor. He was seen by a specialist later who diagnosed his illness as Chorea, a complaint of the rheumatic nerve, which was unfortunately incurable.
His illness did cause him to stagger when he walked and because of this he preferred to go out in the evening when there were not so many people about. His favourite walk was along the waterway and rose gardens. “He was very fond of flowers,” she said.

IN USUAL HEALTH

He was in an ordinary state of health last Wednesday night when he went out to post a letter and it was not usual for him to go for a walk when he went out without saying anything about it prior to his doing so. When he did not return later she informed the police that he was missing.
Questioned by the coroner, the witness stated that deceased had never said anything about taking his own life and there was no reason for him to do so.

RECOVERED THE BODY
William Henry Houston, a pathologist, of Lincoln County Hospital, gave evidence of conducting a post mortem on the deceased. He said that death as caused by asphyxia due to drowning. In his opinion decease’s illness would have made it difficult for him to get out the water.

P.c. Hill said that last Saturday he accompanied Insp. Thomas and Sgt. Baldham to the waterway and helped to recover the body of deceased.
He made an examination of the body and there were no superficial marks. He also made a search of the vicinity but could find nothing to indicate how or why deceased got into the water.
There was a small wall a foot high running by the side of the path that ran by the waterway and further along there were some shrubs between the path and the water.
However, at one part, there was direct access to the water and at that point some sand had piled up and it may have been possible for deceased to miss his turning and fall on the sand and stagger into the waterway.

MISTOOK THE TURNING
The Coroner, summing up, said that it was very difficult for him to say how the deceased got into the water and there was no evidence at all that he killed himself.
“I feel that it may be that he mistook the turning and walked across the opening and got himself in the sand and lost his sense of balance and possibly lurched in the water and could not get out: I shall record in this case a verdict of accidental death.”
He expressed sympathy with Mrs. Bowman and said that it was likely that the accident may have been due to the war-time blitz in Sheffield and the bomb which had dropped near her husband.
Insp. Thomas associated himself with the expression of sympathy on behalf of the police.