ROWELL, Sir (Herbert Babington) Robin (1894-1981)

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0099 KCLMA Rowell
Held at	: Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King's College London   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www.kingscollections.org/catalogues/lhcma ›
Full title	: ROWELL, Sir (Herbert Babington) Robin (1894-1981)
Date(s)	: Created 1915-[1921], [1970-1980], 1983
Level of description	: Collection (fonds)
Extent	: 6 files
Name of creator(s)	:

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Born in 1894; educated at Repton School and City and Guilds Engineering College, University of London; began apprenticeship with shipbuilders Hawthorne, Leslie and Company, 1912; joined Royal Engineers, 1915; transferred to Royal Flying Corps, 1915, and served in UK with 1 Reserve Aeroplane Sqn and with the BEF in France with 8 and 12 Sqns, 1915-1916; Capt, 1916; worked as experimental pilot for Aircraft Directorate, and later Designs Department of the Air Board, [1918-1921]; carried out first tests on man-dropping parachutes from an aeroplane, and designed the necessary casting-off gear; joined staff of Alfred Holt and Company, where he was involved in repairing and reconditioning company ships; rejoined Hawthorne, Leslie and Company, becoming a director in 1922, and serving as chairman, 1943-1965; died in 1981.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Copies of papers and photographs relating to his military career, 1915-[1921], dated 1915-[1921], [1970-1980] and 1983, principally comprising letters to his father, 1915-1916; his flying log book, 1915-1917, covering his service with 1 Reserve Aeroplane Sqn, Royal Flying Corps, UK and with 8 and 12 Sqns, BEF, France; notes and texts of lectures relating to aerial combat tactics, produced by instructors at the Royal Flying Corps School of Aerial Gunnery, 1916; his diary, 1918, including details of his work [as an experimental pilot with the Aircraft Directorate and the Air Board]; notebook containing notes on the performance of various aircraft, [1918-1921]; 'Memoir of service with the Royal Flying Corps, 1915 and 1916', written in [1970-1980].

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

6 files

Conditions governing access:

Open, subject to signature of reader's undertaking form.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied for research use only. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, attention of the Director of Archive Services.

Finding aids:

Summary guide entry on-line at http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/top.htm

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Presented to the Centre by the family in 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1995.

Allied Materials

Related material:

National Register of Archives: Click here to view NRA record

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:

Rules or conventions:

Date(s) of descriptions:
Oct 1996