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16-10-2007, 06:15 AM
| #1 (permalink) |
| Senior Member  Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Outer reaches, Melbourne, Victoria
Posts: 3,444
You're Top Poster: #2   | W/C Alan M Bowman DFC and Bar CO of 39 Sqn with Blenheims and Marylands in Egypt. Mentioned in chapter titled An Electrical Storm in The Armed Rovers by Roy Nesbit. Australian, commanding 39 in Feb 41. Already had DFC and bar by that time. In Sept 41, he and a colleague found a Ju87 that had run out of fuel. They must have found some fuel as they managed to fly her to their base. Shortly after, he was killed piloting a Blenheim near the Italian fortress of Jalo, Libya. I can't find any reference of him on the net. What on earth did he do before Feb 41 to earn a DFC and bar? If anyone ever comes across a copy of The Armed Rovers and you don't own it, buy it! An excellent read so far.
__________________ http://www.454-459squadrons.org.au/. http://www.awm.gov.au/index.asp  Aircraft from No. 60 Squadron levelling out for the "run in" to make a mast-head attack on a Japanese coaster off Akyab. Courtesy AWM. |
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16-10-2007, 06:49 AM
| #2 (permalink) |
| Super Moderator   Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Melbourne Australia
Posts: 3,183
You're Top Poster: #3 |
__________________ Spidge, ------------------------------------------------------- My Avatar is the memorial to the 22 Commonwealth Coastwatchers at the Temakin Cemetery on Betio (Tarawa Atoll) who were beheaded by the Japanese on 15th October 1942. http://www.dva.gov.au/media/publicat...mem_beito.html "You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor and you will have war." (Winston Churchill made this prophetic pronouncement in a House of Commons speech in 1938, just after Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signed the Munich agreement with Hitler. Chamberlain returned from Germany with the signed agreement in hand, proclaiming that "peace in our time" had been achieved. Churchill attacked Chamberlain's "politics of appeasement" in this and many other speeches.) What did the Australians do in ww2 and other conflicts? Check out this site: http://www.diggerhistory.info/00-pag...ster-index.htm |
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16-10-2007, 06:54 AM
| #3 (permalink) |
| Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Outer reaches, Melbourne, Victoria
Posts: 3,444
You're Top Poster: #2 | Spidgeman, I am amazed he is not on your list, very mysterious. http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_...sualty=1535991 If he's on the memorial, am I right in assuming he has no grave? Sorry for dumb question, believe it or not, never used the CWGC before! Could he be one of the unidentified burials listed?
__________________ http://www.454-459squadrons.org.au/. http://www.awm.gov.au/index.asp Aircraft from No. 60 Squadron levelling out for the "run in" to make a mast-head attack on a Japanese coaster off Akyab. Courtesy AWM. Last edited by Antipodean Andy; 16-10-2007 at 07:07 AM. |
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16-10-2007, 06:55 AM
| #4 (permalink) |
| Super Moderator Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Melbourne Australia
Posts: 3,183
You're Top Poster: #3 | He is definitely listed on the Roll of Honour however he is not listed on the DFC list either.............strange! Alan McDonald Bowman DFC & BAR Rank Squadron Leader [Sqn Ldr] Service Number 32138 Unit Communication Flight ME Service RAAF Conflict 1939-1945 Date of Death 30 November 1941 Place of Death Gialo, Middle East Cause of Death Flying Battle Source AWM148 Roll of Honour cards, 1939-1945 War, Air Force
__________________ Spidge, ------------------------------------------------------- My Avatar is the memorial to the 22 Commonwealth Coastwatchers at the Temakin Cemetery on Betio (Tarawa Atoll) who were beheaded by the Japanese on 15th October 1942. http://www.dva.gov.au/media/publicat...mem_beito.html "You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor and you will have war." (Winston Churchill made this prophetic pronouncement in a House of Commons speech in 1938, just after Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signed the Munich agreement with Hitler. Chamberlain returned from Germany with the signed agreement in hand, proclaiming that "peace in our time" had been achieved. Churchill attacked Chamberlain's "politics of appeasement" in this and many other speeches.) What did the Australians do in ww2 and other conflicts? Check out this site: http://www.diggerhistory.info/00-pag...ster-index.htm |
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16-10-2007, 07:03 AM
| #5 (permalink) |
| Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Outer reaches, Melbourne, Victoria
Posts: 3,444
You're Top Poster: #2 | He looks older than the norm but could have earned them in WWI? Maybe ops in the desert have made him look older than he is and thrown me off track! Is it conceivable that he could have been 20 in 1918 and therefore 43 in 1941 (seems a bit young to be a flyer in WWI...to me). Armed Rovers does say something along the lines of "he had been unable to settle into a desk job and yearned to continue flying". This, however, suggests he was flying earlier in the war and was then given a desk. I reckon I'm way off with my WWI idea.
__________________ http://www.454-459squadrons.org.au/. http://www.awm.gov.au/index.asp Aircraft from No. 60 Squadron levelling out for the "run in" to make a mast-head attack on a Japanese coaster off Akyab. Courtesy AWM. |
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16-10-2007, 07:16 AM
| #6 (permalink) |
| Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Outer reaches, Melbourne, Victoria
Posts: 3,444
You're Top Poster: #2 | This is the link that Spidgeman followed to get to that photo of our hero. http://www.awm.gov.au/roh/person.asp?p=148-29636 I love the little touch of the poppy where his name is listed on the memorial in Canberra. Beautiful attention to detail so thought I'd share!
__________________ http://www.454-459squadrons.org.au/. http://www.awm.gov.au/index.asp Aircraft from No. 60 Squadron levelling out for the "run in" to make a mast-head attack on a Japanese coaster off Akyab. Courtesy AWM. |
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16-10-2007, 07:32 AM
| #7 (permalink) |
| Super Moderator Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Melbourne Australia
Posts: 3,183
You're Top Poster: #3 | He is not on the nominal roll and nowhere else it seems in the national archives.
__________________ Spidge, ------------------------------------------------------- My Avatar is the memorial to the 22 Commonwealth Coastwatchers at the Temakin Cemetery on Betio (Tarawa Atoll) who were beheaded by the Japanese on 15th October 1942. http://www.dva.gov.au/media/publicat...mem_beito.html "You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor and you will have war." (Winston Churchill made this prophetic pronouncement in a House of Commons speech in 1938, just after Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signed the Munich agreement with Hitler. Chamberlain returned from Germany with the signed agreement in hand, proclaiming that "peace in our time" had been achieved. Churchill attacked Chamberlain's "politics of appeasement" in this and many other speeches.) What did the Australians do in ww2 and other conflicts? Check out this site: http://www.diggerhistory.info/00-pag...ster-index.htm |
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16-10-2007, 07:33 AM
| #8 (permalink) |
| Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Outer reaches, Melbourne, Victoria
Posts: 3,444
You're Top Poster: #2 |  DFC came into being in June 1918, don't know what I was thinking there! Still a possibility but...Spidgeman, I just checked NAA as well. Had to have interest raised on this guy!
__________________ http://www.454-459squadrons.org.au/. http://www.awm.gov.au/index.asp Aircraft from No. 60 Squadron levelling out for the "run in" to make a mast-head attack on a Japanese coaster off Akyab. Courtesy AWM. |
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16-10-2007, 08:04 AM
| #9 (permalink) |
| Super Moderator Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Melbourne Australia
Posts: 3,183
You're Top Poster: #3 | Alan McDonald Bowman Alan McDonald Bowman was awarded the following honours: Distinguished Flying Cross Service Number32138ServiceRAFRankSquadron LeaderUnit39 Sqn RAFConflictSecond World WarDate of London Gazette25 October 1940, page 6194, position 1 More information about a Distinguished Flying Cross (Wikipedia) Bar to Distinguished Flying Cross Service Number32138ServiceRAFRankWing CommanderUnit39 Sqn RAFConflictSecond World WarDate of London Gazette8 August 1941, page 4570, position 1
__________________ Spidge, ------------------------------------------------------- My Avatar is the memorial to the 22 Commonwealth Coastwatchers at the Temakin Cemetery on Betio (Tarawa Atoll) who were beheaded by the Japanese on 15th October 1942. http://www.dva.gov.au/media/publicat...mem_beito.html "You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor and you will have war." (Winston Churchill made this prophetic pronouncement in a House of Commons speech in 1938, just after Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signed the Munich agreement with Hitler. Chamberlain returned from Germany with the signed agreement in hand, proclaiming that "peace in our time" had been achieved. Churchill attacked Chamberlain's "politics of appeasement" in this and many other speeches.) What did the Australians do in ww2 and other conflicts? Check out this site: http://www.diggerhistory.info/00-pag...ster-index.htm |
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16-10-2007, 08:08 AM
| #10 (permalink) |
| Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Outer reaches, Melbourne, Victoria
Posts: 3,444
You're Top Poster: #2 | Where did you find that, Spidgeman? Good old diggerhistory! http://www.diggerhistory2.info/raaf/1942/chapter04.htm Squadron Leader Alan McDonald Bowman, of Tasmania, was awarded the D.F.C. at the age Of 29. He had proved himself a courageous and determined leader with sound judgment who, by leading his squadron by day and night on bombing raids over Germany, had set a fine example and a high standard. He had led i i most successful raids on enemy territory, and had once beaten off an attack on one of the bombers in his formation and thus enabled it to return to British territory. In conjunction with fighter aircraft, he had organized and carried out an attack which had destroyed three enemy petrol dumps and an ammunition dump. "The influence of his untiring efforts and of his example is reflected in the many successes of his squadron, the citation stated.
__________________ http://www.454-459squadrons.org.au/. http://www.awm.gov.au/index.asp Aircraft from No. 60 Squadron levelling out for the "run in" to make a mast-head attack on a Japanese coaster off Akyab. Courtesy AWM. Last edited by Antipodean Andy; 16-10-2007 at 08:15 AM. |
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