John Leslie Bowman was born in Leadville NSW on 19 March 1920. During his time at the College, he boarded at Kirkland House between 1932 and 1937. He played rugby in the 1st XV and rowed in the 1st VIII.

On 11 July 1940 he enlisted with his cousin Jim and subsequently joined the Second Australian Imperial (AIF) and was sent to Malaysia and Singapore and managed to avoid the fall of Singapore which resulted in the capture of 22,000 Australian soldiers. On 12 February 1942, after setting off from Singapore in convoy, he was killed at sea on the hospital ship, the Empire Star, when manning a machine gun position to defend the ship from enemy Japanese dive bomber attacks.

As many as 47 twin engined bombers attacked the plane over the course of the day which caused three fires on the boat. A bomb from one of the bombers was dropped on his gunning position, killing him instantly. His cousin was also killed in the blast, a fellow Scots student Colin Thane, survived. At the time he was posted with 1 Company Australian Army Service Corps, a transport company that was founded during WWI. John was buried at sea the same day by his fellow crewman along with the 13 other casualties from the days attack. The Empire Star would later be sunk by the German U-Boat U-61 when it was torpedoed four times whilst carrying large amounts of cargo.

Back at the College, the Principal, in announcing his death, declared: “'He was always cheerful and friendly, and was adventurous and courageous. Last Christmas he and other Old Boys sent a special gift to the School. We mourn his untimely end."