Family of late Fusilier Alan Lowe Kindly Donates Personal Collection to Museum

The family of the late Fusilier Veteran Alan Lowe visited the Fusilier Museum earlier this week to donate several items from his private Gulf War collection and service with the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. 

Personal items such as his uniform, photographs and mementos were donated by his family alongside a diary written by Alan during his service both in the Army Reserves , Germany and in the first Gulf War. 

Alan’s former Commanding Officer, Major (Rtd) Mike Dowling also kindly donated several letters which Alan wrote to him during his time in the Gulf. All the donated items have been gifted into the collection and will be a valuable asset to the museum when planning the new gallery for the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers in years to come. 

Fusilier Alan Lowe was born in Denton on the 8th October 1965. From being a young boy, he always wanted to join the army so enlisted with the Army Reserves – Royal Regiment of Fusiliers in Ashton- under- Lyne as soon as he could in November 1985. It was whilst serving in the with the Reserves in Germany in 1990, Alan like many other part time soldiers volunteered to join 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and went to the Gulf to take part in Op Granby where he served for a year. It was during his time on active service in the Gulf War that Alan wrote a diary every single day outlining the day-to-day fighting, inevitable periods of boredom and eventual success of the multi-national army that liberated Kuwait. On completion of  the war in the Gulf, Alan transferred back to the TA Reserves in 1991 and served with C Coy in Ashton under Lyne for several years afterwards. Sadly, Alan was involved in a serious car crash in 2020 and was lucky to survive but spent two weeks in a coma. The accident left him with severe cognitive problems and memory loss which made daily tasks quite difficult but after a long journey he got back to a normal way of living. When serving in the TA Fusiliers, Alan worked in the building industry and enjoyed cycling, even completing the Lands End to John O Groats challenge alone. Sadly, Alan died on the 20th November 2025 from cancer aged just 60 years old. 

Cheryl Lowe, Alan’s sister said “Alan was a Fusilier through and through, and as a family we felt The Fusilier Museum was the right place for his letters, diaries and Gulf War military items to be preserved and shared. He would have been incredibly proud to know that his items will help tell the story of the Fusilier Regiment both regular and reserve soldiers he loved so much, while also preserving the memory of their service for future generations.” 

Ria Bagshaw, Collections Manager and Curator at The Fusilier Museum said “ We are incredibly grateful to Alan’s family for their generous donation to The Fusilier Museum. Collections such as this are invaluable in helping us preserve the personal stories behind military service. In particular, Alan’s diaries are an extraordinary addition to the archive. It is very rare to receive diaries with such detailed first hand accounts, and they provide a deeply personal insight into both Alan’s experiences and the wider history of the regiment. 

The Fusilier Museum in Bury, Lancashire, is home to the collections of XX The Lancashire Fusiliers and the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. Documenting over 300 years of history and heritage through permanent and temporary exhibitions, the Museum tells the rich and fascinating stories of the people who have served and continue to serve in the Regiments.