(b.1882 - d.1970) Air force commander. Born in Moffat, the son of a school-master, Dowding was educated at Winchester College and the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. He joined the Royal Flying Corp in its earliest days during the First World War, rising to the rank of Air Marshall in 1933. As Commander in Chief of Fighter Command (1936 - 1940) he directed the defeat of the German Air Force in the "Battle of Britain". Despite this success, Dowding was criticised for his tactics and was removed from his post in Fighter Command in 1941. Curiously he was interested in spiritualism and claimed to have communicated with airmen who had been killed in action. Dowding was knighted in 1934 and elevated to a peerage, as Lord Dowding of Bentley Priory, in 1943.

Derived from the Gazetteer for Scotland with permission.

Is this your organisation, facility or event? If so register with us to update or add to these details

You may also be interested in

Archibald Campbell

Lola Montez

Archibald Douglas