Key Information
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1998 (Creation)
Level of description
Collection
Extent
1 volume
Scope and content
Edition of Memoirs of Lieutenant-General Sir John Cowley, 1905-1993, edited by Colin Maitland (Deltastet, London, 1998), chiefly covering Cowley's education at Connaught House and Wellington College, the Quetta earthquake, India, 1935, service in World War Two, 1939-1945, in the Middle East and North West Europe, and service as Controller of Munitions, Ministry of Supply, 1957-1960.
System of arrangement
1 item
General Information
Name of creator
Biographical history
Born in India, 1905; educated at Connaught House, Wellington College and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich; commissioned into the Corps of Royal Engineers, 1925; Lt, 1927; served in India with Queen Victoria's Own Madras Sappers and Miners, 1932-1936; awarded Albert Medal (later exchanged for the GC) for rescuing survivors of the earthquake in Quetta, India, 1935; Capt, 1936; Instructor, Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, 1936-1938; Staff Capt, 1939; Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, 1939; served in World War Two in the Middle East, Italy and North West Europe, 1939-1945; Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General, War Office, 1939-1940; temporary Maj, 1940-1941; Middle East, 1940-1942; Assistant Quartermaster General, 1941-1942; temporary Lt Col, 1941-1944; Maj, 1942; Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster General, 30 Corps, Western Desert, 1942; General Staff Officer 1, British Army Staff, Washington DC, USA, 1942-1943; Instructor, US Command and Staff School, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, USA, 1942-1943; awarded OBE, 1943; substantive Lt Col, 1944; acting Brig, Allied Forces Headquarters, Caserta, Italy, 1944; Brig Q [Quartermaster] (Army Equipment), 1944; temporary Brig, 1944-1953; awarded CBE, 1946; Col, 1949; Brig, 1953; temporary Maj Gen, 1953; Chief of Staff, Headquarters, Eastern Command, 1953-1956; Maj Gen, 1954; awarded CB, 1954; Vice Quartermaster General, 1956-1957; Lt Gen, 1957; Controller of Munitions, Ministry of Supply, 1957-1960; created KBE, 1958; Master General of the Ordnance, War Office, 1960-1962; Governor, Wellington College, 1960-1976; Col Commandant, Royal Pioneer Corps, 1961-1967; Col Commandant, Royal Engineers, 1961-1970; retired 1962; Director, Alastair Watson Limited, 1962-1970; Chairman, Bowmaker Limited, 1962-1971; Director, British Oxygen Limited, 1962-1976; Chairman of Governors, Eagle House School, 1968-1976; Chairman of Governors, Bigshotte School, 1968-1976; Director, C T Bowring and Company Limited, 1969-1971; Vice President and Chairman of Governors, Wellington College, 1969-1976; Chairman, Wilverley Securities Limited, 1970-1973; Keith and Henderson Limited, 1973-1976; Chairman, Polamco Limited, 1976-1993; Chairman of Governors, Brockenhurst Sixth Form College, 1977-1984; President, Old Wellingtonian Society, 1979-1993; President, New Forest Preservation Society, 1982-1993; Fellow, Royal Society of Arts; died 1993.Publications: Memoirs of Lieutenant-General Sir John Cowley, 1905-1993, edited by Colin Maitland (Deltastet, London, 1998).
Repository
Custodial history
Presented to the Centre by the family in 1999.
Conditions governing access
Open, subject to signature of Reader's undertaking form, and appropriate provision of two forms of identification, to include one photographic ID.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied from open material for research purposes only.
Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, via the Archives.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Finding aids
This collection level description.
Existence and location of originals
Please note: We require 7 days notice to retrieve this collection as part, or all of it, is held off-campus. Read more ›
Related materials
Publication note
A memoir of the Suez operations, 1956 and Cowley's military reflections are held at the Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge University (Ref: CWLY).
Note
Decorations: GC, KBE, CB
Alternative identifier(s)
Place access points
People and Organisations
- Wellington College (Subject)
Genre access points
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000.