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Born: Croydon, London, September 1906; Died: Douglas, Isle of Man, October 1984.
Fr Cowin, newly ordained priest, joined the Army at the outbreak of WWII as a non-combatant Chaplain.
Caught up in the Surrender of Singapore (1942), Fr Cowin shared the brutal conditions of the Japanese PoW camps with other East Anglian men of 18th Division. His army uniform put to one side, he emphasised his spiritual role by wearing his priestly cassock at all times, a tangible symbol of hope and faith for all to see.
Building a Roman Catholic chapel in three different camps, Fr Cowin made a promise. If he survived interment, he would build a Church to the many young lives destroyed in the misery and horror of the Japanese camps.
Liberation finally came in 1945. After Fr Cowin’s release from captivity and the Army, the Bishop of Northampton assigned him to Wymondham’s tiny Mission. It was the opportunity he needed and it was here that he would fulfil the vow he had made in adversity. Completed in 1952, the Church of Our Lady and St Thomas of Canterbury became the National Memorial Church of the Far Eastern Prisoners of War (FEPOW). Fr Cowin’s prayer spoken at the dedication of the Church recalled the full brutality of the Japanese camps:
‘You died in misery, often in agony, upon no bed, with nothing but a sack to cover you, in squalor unbelievable. Here is the symbol of things you never knew in your last days, of peace, and quiet, and the cool, soft air of prayer, in the abiding presence of Him whose suffering was greatest of all.’
In 1965 Fr Cowin left Wymondham to become resident priest to St Joseph's College in Ipswich. Much loved and respected, he had built three Churches in the area – Diss, Dereham and Wymondham. He had also fulfilled a sacred promise and created a permanent living memorial to those prisoners of was and civilian detainees of whatever creed or nationality whose young lives were cut short by war.
Reference: “A Century of Faith: Wymondham’s Catholic Community 1912-2012” by Peter Wiseman, 2012. As adapted by Mrs G Hill, March 2019
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Croydon, Rome, Singapore, Burma, Wymondham, Ipswich, Isle of Man
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Ordained: Rome, circa 1938