Dowse was born at Glenageary, county Dublin, where his father was rector of St Paul's Church.
However, his rugby career was cut short by the outbreak of World War I and he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Royal Army Medical Corps in August 1914.
He ended the war with the rank of acting Major-General (made substantive in November 1945).
[4] After the war he was Commandant and Director of Studies at the Royal Army Medical College 1948–49.
[6] The Greek government awarded him the Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Phoenix in 1948.