Sir Archibald Rowlands GCB

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(26 December 1892 – 18 August 1953) was a British civil servant. After serving as private secretary to three Secretaries of State for War, he was Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Aircraft Production during the Second World War. He then worked in India and later acted as a special advisor to Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the Governor-General of Pakistan. Rowlands was born on 26 December 1892 and went to school in Penarth. He then studied at the

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, obtaining a first-class degree in modern languages in 1914. He then studied at

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, with his university career being interrupted for three years during the First World War, during which he saw action as a captain in the

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; he was mentioned in dispatches and was awarded the Military

. In 1920, he joined the

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as a member of the civil service, serving as private secretary to Sir Herbert Creedy, Secretary at the War Office, and then as private secretary to

Viscount Hailsham Viscount Hailsham, of Hailsham in the County of Sussex, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1929 for the lawyer and Conservative politician Douglas Hogg, 1st Baron Hailsham, who twice served as Lord High Chancello ...

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and

Duff Cooper Alfred Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich, (22 February 1890 – 1 January 1954), known as Duff Cooper, was a British Conservative Party politician and diplomat who was also a military and political historian. First elected to Parliament in 19 ...

, who were successively the Secretary of State for War; Hailsham used to declare that Rowlands was the ideal private secretary. In 1936, Rowlands was seconded to the Indian Government as Adviser on Military Finance, before returning in 1939 Deputy Under-Secretary at the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

, then becoming Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Aircraft Production in 1940. He left the Ministry of Aircraft Production when

Wilfrid Freeman Air Chief Marshal Sir Wilfrid Rhodes Freeman, 1st Baronet, (18 July 1888 – 15 May 1953) was one of the most important influences on the rearmament of the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the years up to and including the Second World War. RAF caree ...

conditioned his return on an equal or higher status to the permanent secretary, and his work was followed in 1943 by a return to India as adviser to the

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on war administration, supervising various British government branches that had been moved to India during the war. He became Finance Member of the Governor-General's Executive Council. He was also chairman of the committee that reported into the administration of the province of Bengal, making various recommendations for improvement. In 1946, he left India to become Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Supply, succeeding

Oliver Franks Oliver Shewell Franks, Baron Franks (16 February 1905 – 15 October 1992) was an English civil servant and philosopher who has been described as 'one of the founders of the postwar world'. Franks was involved in Britain's recovery after the S ...

. However, he stayed about a year in this position before being seconded as a special advisor to Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the Governor-General of Pakistan. He proposed removing levels of provincial administration to allow the unification of government in

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. His obituary in ''

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'' said of his work in India and Pakistan that "he showed a vision and judgment which was little short of miraculous in the trying latter days of British rule and in the early days of native rule in the sub-continent. Industry and energy he had in abundance, yet these would have availed him little if there had not been a touch of genius in a mind at once penetrating and kindly – a rare combination." After his year in Pakistan was over, he returned to the Ministry of Supply and was also a member of the Economic Planning Board. He was made a

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in 1941 and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in 1947. He retired at the age of 60 and became a member of the board of

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. He died in Henley-on-Thames on 18 August 1953.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowlands, Archibald 1892 births 1953 deaths People from Penarth Permanent Secretaries of the Ministry of Aircraft Production Civil servants in the War Office Civil servants in the Air Ministry Private secretaries in the British Civil Service Members of the Order of the British Empire Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford Alumni of the University of Wales Welch Regiment officers British Army personnel of World War I People educated at Stanwell School British expatriates in Pakistan Army Cyclist Corps officers Members of the Council of the Governor General of India Military personnel from the Vale of Glamorgan