Herbert Rowley

[4] On 24 June he was posted to RNAS Chingford,[3] and on completion of his basic flight training, was granted Royal Aero Club Aviators Certificate No.

1 (Naval) Squadron RNAS, based in France, in February[2] to fly the Sopwith Triplane single-seat fighter.

[3] On 1 August 1919 Rowley was granted a permanent commission in the Royal Air Force with the rank of lieutenant (flying officer).

[14] There he took part in a pioneering flight of three Airco DH.9A aircraft between Egypt and Nigeria, under the command of Squadron Leader Arthur Coningham.

The aircraft left Helwan Aerodrome, Cairo, on 27 October 1925, arriving at Kano, Nigeria, on 1 November, having averaged 500–600 miles (800–970 km) per day, flying via Wadi Halfa, Khartoum and Al-Fashir in Sudan.

[16] On 1 June 1926 Rowley was posted to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at RAF Martlesham Heath.

Over the 750-mile (1,210 km) long triangular course between London, Manchester and Newcastle, Rowley averaged 91.2 miles per hour (146.8 km/h), coming 42nd out of 88 competitors.

[22] On 27 June 1931 his squadron took part in the 12th Air Force Display held at Hendon Aerodrome, mounting a demonstration involving an mock attack on a long-range gun emplacement by Hawker Harts of No.

[2] He was posted to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at RAF Martlesham Heath for engineer duties on 30 June 1935.

[25] On 1 January 1937 he was promoted to wing commander,[26] and on 22 February was posted to the Directorate of Operations and Intelligence at the Air Ministry.

[27] On 28 December 1939 Rowley was appointed an acting-group captain,[2] receiving promotion to the temporary rank on 1 March 1940.