Have You a Tiger In Your Family?

Rank : Major

Army Number : 28329

Unit : 4th Bn, 1/5th Bn

Biography :

Educated at Eastbourne College and at Jesus College, Cambridge (where he studied Classics), 'Berty' Bowes (snr) was commissioned into 4th Bn The Leicestershire Regiment (TA) on 25.3.1924, and promoted Lieutenant on 25.3.1926. He was OC HQ Wing 4th Bn in 1930, and was also serving in the Oakham School OTC from 1927. At that school he was a master for 41 years from 1926-1967 and he served in the OTC until 1940, commanding it from 1940. When 4th Bn (TA) reroled and rebadged to Royal Engineers in 1936 he joined the RE Reserve of Officers. He was in the OTC at the outbreak of WW2 and served in The Leicestershire Regiment as a Major from 8.7.1940. Awarded the T.D. on 4.8.1942 (and 2nd Clasp 20.11.1953). Awarded M.B.E. for his work as 2IC 1/5th Leicesters/Chief Instructor Pre-OCTU, Wrotham, Kent, 1943-45 (L.G. 1.1.1946). Ceased being a member of the TARO on 29.1.1955. Member of the Leicestershire & Rutland TA Association. Appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Rutland on 18.4.1962 (as in the photo dated May 1967). Died 20.2.1995. Younger brother of 2Lt E A Bowes (Killed in Action 1918) and father of Major J R E Bowes ('Berty' (jnr)), both of the Regiment.

His 41 years (1926-67) at Oakham School were notable in many ways. In addition to his work in the OTC, he taught Classics and then History, was Housemaster of Greylands (1930-37) and then of Wharflands (1937-59 [less the war years]), Second Master (1950-67), and Careers Master. On his retirement in 1967, a tribute in "The Oakhamian" school magazine included, "Throughout 40 years he has practised and preached exactly those qualities that it is fashionable nowadays to decry and to ridicule – Service, Discipline, Loyalty, Esprit de Corps (the Flag and the Old School Tie, if you like) – but qualities which are, nevertheless, fundamental to character.
"He is a man of great enthusiasms and simple tastes, but no intellectual: he is more interested in the work and people as he finds them than in theories or motives. He is of the generation that “knew not” specialisation, preferring to tackle any job he was given seven days a week and through the holidays, if need be. He joined the Staff in 1926 as a Classical Scholar of his College and he still has the faculty for turning out a set of Latin verses and an abiding love of Greek culture and history, recently gratified by two blissful tours of Greece... in 1928, he turned his attention mainly to History teaching with a specially soft spot for the American Continent. He has been in turn House Tutor at Wharflands, Tutor at Bank House, Housemaster of the now defunct Greylands and Housemaster of Wharflands – apart from the interruption of war service – until 1959, and Second Master for the past seventeen years.
"Physically wiry rather than strong, he has kept himself in superb condition: he played rugger in his late 40s and still referees; hockey in his 60s, and is today by far the most active member of the Tennis Club which he coaches so assiduously, and he can walk most men off their feet on a couple of sandwiches and a few pipes of tobacco. For years he was Captain of the Oakham Town Rugger Club through good times and bad [1928-36], and subsequently President...Outside the normal activities of an assistant master, he has been a keen and practical supporter of Toc H and interested his boys in this cause; he founded the Young Farmers’ Club; for many years he edited “The Oakhamian”, and more recently he has been a dedicated Careers Master, with surprising insight into modern business techniques.
"This is, by any standard, an impressive catalogue of interests and achievements, but in the final issue one always thinks of Berty as the Soldier. He joined the Territorial Army in his teens, and was the youngest Company Commander in the 4th Leicestershires and this training has informed his whole life – he handles boys and junior masters as he did his men and callow subalterns, and he makes a Staff College “appreciation” of any given problem. He ran the CCF [actually, the Officers Training Corps] from 1928 until his War Service [1940-45]; under him the Corps was notably efficient, especially in Platoon and Company field tactics, where Berty was well ahead of his time, and through his development of Miniature and Open Range shooting, he may also be said to have sown the seeds of future Bisley success.
"He found the War itself somewhat frustrating, for he was unlucky in his postings, but typically he put all he knew into his work, and was deservedly honoured with the MBE, while his subsequent service in the Leicestershire Territorial Army Association was recognised by his appointment as deputy lieutenant in 1962. It is due directly to his enthusiasm and example that so many Old Oakhamians have joined the Territorial Army on leaving school, and many more since have been helped with their National Service and Regular Army entry. Aeschylus is said to have wished to be remembered because he fought at Marathon, rather than for all the excellence of his poetry; Bowes would wish to be remembered for the soldiers he produced to fight Hitler and the men he equipped for life, more than for anything he ever did in the classroom."

Date of Birth : c1906

Date of Death : 20.2.1995

Civil Occupation : Schoolmaster

Period of Service : 1926-46+

Conflicts : WW2

Places Served : United Kingdom