Quick Facts
Biography
Lieutenant General Sir John Guise Cowley GC, KBE, CB (20 August 1905 – 7 January 1993) was a British Army officer who reached high office in the 1950s.
Military career
Educated at Wellington College and the Royal Military Academy Woolwich, Cowley was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1925. He was awarded the Albert Medal which he subsequently exchanged for the George Cross because of his action during the Balochistan earthquake of May 1935.
He served in the Second World War in the Middle East, Italy and North West Europe. In 1953 he became Chief of Staff at Headquarters Eastern Command. He was then appointed Vice Quartermaster-General in 1956, Controller of Munitions at the Ministry of Supply in 1957 and Master-General of the Ordnance in 1960; he retired in 1962.
He was also Colonel Commandant of the Royal Engineers from 1961 to 1970.
Family
In 1941 he married Irene Sybil Millen and together they went on to have one son and three daughters.