Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Logan Scott-Bowden, (21 February 1920 – 9 February 2014) was a British army officer. A

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

officer during World War II, he was the first commander of the Ulster Defence Regiment. Retiring as a

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

in 1974, he served as the colonel-commandant of the Royal Engineers from 1975 to 1980.

Early life

Scott-Bowden was born in

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It is th ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

on 21 February 1920, the son of Lt.Col. Jonathan Scott-Bowden,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, TD, and Mary Scott-Bowden (née Logan). He was educated at

Malvern College Malvern College is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent coeducational day and boarding school in Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is a public school (United Kingdom), public school in the British sen ...

and the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Sig ...

. He was commissioned into the Royal Engineers on 3 July 1939.

Military career

Scott-Bowden saw early service in Norway in 1940, before joining the

53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division The 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought in both the First and Second World Wars. Originally raised in 1908 as the Welsh Division, part of the Territorial Force (TF), the division saw service in ...

as an Adjutant in 1941. During 1942 and 1943 he served on liaison duty with Canadian and American forces. In mid 1943 Scott-Bowden joined Combined Operations Pilotage Parties (COPP), the reconnaissance unit tasked with scouting the beaches for the D Day landings. Scott-Bowden and another COPPist, Sergeant Bruce Ogden-Smith, swam ashore in Normandy over thirty times to obtain sand samples to see whether the beach would support tanks. A trial landing at a Norfolk beach had proved that they would not be detected when they swam ashore at night from an LCT. At midnight on 31 December 1943, Scott-Bowden and Ogden-Smith, during Operation KJH, landed on

Gold Beach Gold, commonly known as Gold Beach, was the code name for one of the five areas of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during the Second World War. Gold, the central of the five areas, was lo ...

to take samples of the material from the beach. They swam ashore from a landing craft operated by 712th Landing Craft Personnel (Survey) Flotilla. They found that the sand, in places, was thin and supported by weak peat material. They took samples back to the United Kingdom that allowed planners to cope with the weaker-than-expected beaches. Scott-Bowden and Ogden-Smith returned to Normandy from 17–21 January 1944, this time operating from X20, an X-class midget submarine, during Operation Bellpush Able. They twice swam ashore onto sectors of

Omaha Beach Omaha Beach was one of five beach landing sectors designated for the amphibious assault component of operation Overlord during the Second World War. On June 6, 1944, the Allies invaded German-occupied France with the Normandy landings. "Omaha" r ...

. After returning to the UK, Scott-Bowden was summoned to a briefing with General Omar Bradley. Scott-Bowden said to him ''"Sir, I hope you don’t mind me saying it, but this beach is a very formidable proposition indeed and there are bound to be tremendous casualties."'' Bradley put his hand on his shoulder and replied ''"I know, my boy. I know."'' On D Day both Sgt. Ogden-Smith and Maj. Scott-Bowden assisted in piloting the initial American landings on

. He then went on to command 17 Field Squadron for the remainder of the War. After World War II, he had operational service in Burma, Palestine, Korea, Aden and lastly in Northern Ireland. In Northern Ireland he was given the challenging task of forming the Ulster Defence Regiment. His final appointment in the Armed Services, on promotion to Major General, was as Head of the British Defence Liaison Staff, India. After retirement from active service Scott-Bowden served as the Colonel-Commandant of the Royal Engineers from 1975 to 1980.

Personal life

In 1950 he married Helen Jocelyn, daughter of late

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Sir Francis Caradoc Rose Price, 5th Bt, and late Marjorie Lady Price. They had three sons and three daughters.

Honours

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) 1 January 1972 *

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) 6 June 1964 *

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

15 June 1944 (Operation Bell Push Able, Normandy reconnaissance January 1944) *

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

(MC) 2 March 1944 Operation KJH (Normandy reconnaissance December 1943 - January 1944) *

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

to the Military Cross (MC and Bar) 22 January 1946

Appointments

He held a number of appointments throughout his career including:

Ranks

References

External links

British Army Officers 1939−1945
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott-Bowden, Logan 1920 births 2014 deaths British Army major generals British Army personnel of the Korean War British Army personnel of World War II Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Military personnel from Cumbria Graduates of Joint Services Command and Staff College People educated at Malvern College People from Whitehaven Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Engineers officers Ulster Defence Regiment officers National Defence College, India alumni