He volunteered for active service fighting in South Africa during the Second Boer War, and left Southampton with other men of the regiment in the SS Umbria in March 1900.
[3] From March to June 1900 he served in operations around Natal and later around the Zululand Frontier, including the defence of Forts Itala and Prospect,[4] and the following year he was promoted to the rank of major on 9 November 1901.
Gowans first came to note as a rugby player when he represented Cambridge University whilst a student at Clare College.
Gowans played his rugby on the wing and was first capped for Scotland, while still a Cambridge student, in the 1893 Home Nations Championship, against Wales.
His seven others caps for Scotland were also in Home Nations encounters and he took part in their successful 1895 campaign where they claimed their first ever Triple Crown.