Four Bowens are remembered on the Platt War Memorial: three from the First World War and one from the Second. Those who fell in 1914-1918 are often assumed to be brothers, but they were, in fact, cousins and descend from a family that left Glamorganshire in Wales by foot during the first half of the 19th century. Their forebears' reputed destination was the mining community of Betteshanger in East Kent, where they hoped to find work. However, upon arrival in Platt, they found employment in the brickyards, and the family stayed in the local area.

Reginald Ernest Bowen, the youngest of the cousins, was born on 27 September 1899 in Platt Common. He was the third of nine children of Thomas and Alice Bowen (née Terry) from Wrotham. The family were among the first residents of Whatcote Cottages after they were built in 1905 and lived at number 5.

On 6 June 1904, Reggie, as he was more commonly known, began attending Platt School and sang in the church choir, eventually becoming leader after nine years of impeccable service.

On 19 October 1915, while working as a gardener, Reggie enlisted in the Army. His older brother Sydney, who was afterwards described as Reggie's 'other self', joined in September 1914 and was serving in France with the 7th Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) at the time, and perhaps the inspiration for Reggie to 'do his bit.' Possibly because he was only 16 years old, Reggie travelled to Dartford to enlist, maybe hoping nobody would recognise him and reveal his age.

On his enlistment papers, he told the recruitment officer he was 18 years, 30 days old, and recorded in a medical as being 5' 3½" tall - just over the average height for a working-class 15-year-old boy, and the minimum to join the Army. At eight-stone, he was also of an average weight for an enlisted man, with his physical development noted as being 'satisfactory.' 

Reggie was passed fit for duty, joined the King's Royal Rifle Corps, and was sent for training with the 6th Reserve Battalion at Sheerness on 29 October. Reggie spent almost two years based in the United Kingdom before finally being sent to France on 12 June 1917.

On arrival, he was drafted into the 12th (Service) Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps, but shortly afterwards, on 2 July, he was transferred to the 11th Battalion, which was based at Pernois and took on 90 reinforcements during the month. By the end of July, the battalion was working on railway tracks east of the Yser Canal and moved up to the front lines north of Ypres near Pilckem on 7 August, where they immediately came under three hours of gas shelling.

Reggie's first (and last) week in the trenches would have been tough. He was almost certainly involved with the various carrying and working parties that operated day and night, usually under threat of being killed by enemy artillery, and it appears he was one of 15 other ranks killed while at Wagram Farm around the 14th/15th.

His body was either never recovered for burial or later identified, and his name appears on the Menin Gate in Ypres. When he died, he was just 17, and the few personal possessions returned to his parents included a cigarette case, three photographs, a metal mirror, and a French book.

His captain wrote that "he was always ready to do his duty, however irksome" and "He was brave as a lion."