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Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King's College London

COWLEY, Lt Gen Sir John Guise (1905-1993)


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 0099 KCLMA Cowley

Held at: Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King's College London

Title: COWLEY, Lt Gen Sir John Guise (1905-1993)

Date(s): Created 1998

Level of description: Collection (fonds)

Extent: 1 volume

Name of creator(s): Cowley | Sir | John Guise | 1905-1993 | Knight | Lieutenant General

CONTEXT

Administrative/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).

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

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.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

1 item

Conditions governing access:

Open, subject to signature of reader's undertaking form.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied for research use only. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, attention of the Director of Archive Services.

Physical characteristics:

Finding aids:

Summary guide available on-line at http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/top.htm, and in hard copy in the Centre's reading room.

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Presented to the Centre by the family in 1999.

ALLIED MATERIALS

Existence and location of originals:

Existence and location of copies:

Related material:

The papers of Capt Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart contain a typescript lecture text by Cowley entitled 'Future trends in warfare', given at the Royal United Services Institute, 4 Nov 1959 (Ref: LH 15/5/240). A memoir of the Suez operations, 1956 and Cowley's military reflections are held at the Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge University (Ref: CWLY).

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Note:

Decorations: GC, KBE, CB

Date(s) of descriptions: May 1999


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Memoirs | Documents | Information sources
Military education | Higher science education
War | International conflicts
Warfare | Military engineering
Weapons | Military equipment | Equipment
World War Two (1939-1945) | World wars (events) | Wars (events)
Primary documents

Personal names
Cowley | Sir | John Guise | 1905-1993 | Knight | Lieutenant General

Corporate names
Wellington College

Places
India | South Asia
Quetta | Pakistan | South Asia
Western Europe | Europe
Middle East