| The History of Coagh booklet lists Private Joseph Cooney as having served with the Royal Munster Fusiliers in the war. This is believed to be John Cooney.
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| John Cowan was the eldest son of James and Annie Cowan. James Hogg Cowan and Annie Ruth Stanton were married on 28th March 1893 in the district of Magherafelt.
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| John Hogg Cowan was born on 20th February 1897. He was the third of nine children, all born in the Moneymore area.
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| The 1901 census lists John Hogg as age 4, living with the family at house 1 in Annahavil, Moneyhaw, County Londonderry. They were a farming family.
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| Family: James Hogg Cowan, Annie Ruth Cowan, Matilda Cowan (born 18th December 1893), Muriel Sarah Cowan (born 5th May 1895), John Hogg Cowan (born 20th February 1897), Kathleen Cowan (born 26th February 1898), Margaret Stanton Cowan (born 6th November 1899), James Stanton Cowan (born 24th October 1901), Anna Stewart Cowan (born 11th May 1903), William George Cowan (born 14th May 1905), Mervyn Cowan (born 6th May 1909).
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| The 1911 census lists John Hogg as age 14, living with the family at house 1 in Annahavil, Moneyhaw, County Londonderry. He was still at school.
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| Lieutenant John Cowan was served with the Royal Navy Reserve.
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| On the 23rd March 1918, during the German Spring Offensive, Lieutenant Cowan was surrounded by Germans at Bertincourt, and became a prisoner of war in Germany.
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| From the Belfast Newsletter dated 8th April 1918:
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| Lieutenant John Cowan, son of Mr James H Cowan, Annahavil, Moneymore, County Derry, is reported missing. A brother officer states that he saw Lieutenant Cowan being surrounded by Germans, and it is assumed he is a prisoner of war.
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| From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 13th April 1918:
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| Lieutenant John H Cowan, Naval Division), (eldest son of Mr James H Cowan, Annahavil, Cookstown) was reported by the Admiralty as missing since 23rd March. A subsequent letter, from Surgeon McCracken, M.C. a chum of his, received on Saturday morning, states that he was last seen surrounded by the Germans. A later message from the Red Cross Enquiry Bureau, London, states that Lieutenant Cowan is a prisoner of war in Germany.
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| The Red Cross WW1 Prisoner of War records state that he was a 2nd Lieutenant serving with Hood Battalion of the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve when he was captured.
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| A second Prisoner of War record gives his father’s details (as next of kin). It also records that he was transferred from OGL Rastatt (a German prison) to Schweisunity (which is assumed to be a Swiss repatriation centre for P.O.W.s.
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| J H Cowan is listed on the World War One memorial tablet inside the Assembly Rooms in Moneymore which lists the men from the area who served during the war. There is also a J S Cowan, which may well be John’s brother, James Stanton Cowan.
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