Lieutenant General Sir Arthur Arnhold Bullick Dowler, KCB, KBE, DL (16 July 1895 – 14 November 1963) was a senior British Army officer who served as General Officer Commanding East Africa Command from 1948 to 1951.
Sir Arthur Dowler | |
|---|---|
| Born | 16 July 1895 New York City, New York, United States |
| Died | 14 November 1963 (aged 68) Bletchingley, Surrey, England |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | British Army |
| Years of service | 1914–1954 |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Service number | 8634 |
| Unit | East Surrey Regiment |
| Commands | East Africa Command (1948–51) 2nd Base Area (1943) 38th (Welsh) Infantry Division (1941–42) 2nd Infantry Brigade (1941) 1st Battalion, East Surrey Regiment (1939) |
| Battles / wars | First World War Second World War |
| Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Mentioned in Despatches Croix de Guerre (France) |
Military career
editEducated at Tonbridge School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst,[1] Dowler was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the East Surrey Regiment in 1914.[2] He served in the First World War with the 2nd Battalion, East Surreys in France and Belgium.[2] He attended the Staff College, Camberley from 1931 to 1932, alongside Brian Horrocks, Sidney Kirkman, Cameron Nicholson and Thomas Rees, and later returned there as an instructor from 1937 until 1939.[3]
Dowler also saw active service in the Second World War, initially in 1939 as commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, East Surrey Regiment and then as a General Staff Officer with the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division.[2] In 1940 he was promoted to brigadier and served on the General Staff of V Corps and, promoted on 1 October 1940 to colonel,[4] subsequently commanded the 2nd Infantry Brigade.[2] He was involved in the Narvik expedition in 1940, part of the Norwegian Campaign.[1] In 1942 he was made General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 38th (Welsh) Infantry Division and then Major-General in charge of Administration of Southern Command.[2] He was put in charge of Administration for the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force in 1944.[2]
After the war Dowler was appointed chief of staff of the British Army of the Rhine, before becoming Director of Infantry at the War Office in 1947.[2] He was GOC East Africa Command from 1948 to 1951 and subsequently Colonel of the East Surrey Regiment until his resignation in 1954.[2][5] In May 1958 he became Deputy Lieutenant of Surrey.[6]
References
edit- ^ a b Queen's Royal Surreys
- ^ a b c d e f g h Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
- ^ Smart 2005, p. 90.
- ^ "No. 35021". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 December 1940. p. 7203.
- ^ "No. 40221". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 February 1954. p. 3882.
- ^ "The East Surrey Regiment, formerly the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment and 70th (Surrey) Regiment: personal papers of the members of the regiment, 1794–2007" (PDF). Surrey County Council. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
Bibliography
edit- Smart, Nick (2005). Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War. Barnesley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 1844150496.