Raymond "Chaz" Bowyer (29 September 1926 – 18 June 2008) was a Royal Air Force armaments and explosives instructor who, after he retired from service, wrote and edited over forty books relating to the operations, aircraft, and men of the Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force, and Royal Naval Air Service. He also edited for publication the memoirs of the pilots C.P.O. Bartlett, Eric Crundall, and Gwilym H. Lewis.
Early life and familyedit
Chaz Bowyer was born in Weymouth, Dorset, on 29 September 1926,[1] to Reginald (a builder) and Dorothy Bowyer née Northam. He was educated at high schools in Solihull and Nelson, England. He married twice and had a daughter from his first marriage and a son and a daughter from his second.[1] His first wife pre-deceased him.[2] A heavy smoker, Bowyer gave up cigarettes for small cigars after a heart attack.[1]
Royal Air Forceedit
Bowyer joined the Royal Air Force in 1943 at the age of 16 under the Aircraft Apprentice Scheme, based at RAF Halton. The scheme had been instituted by Lord Trenchard to improve the supply of technically trained ground crew and its entrants were affectionately known as "Trenchard brats".[3] He served for 26 years, became an instructor in explosives and armaments, and was stationed in Egypt, Libya, Palestine, Singapore, and Aden. On his first posting overseas, somewhere in north Africa, he was told to dig a hole in the sand and improvise a tent over it. He often remarked, "If you can't take a joke you shouldn't have joined".[1] He reached the rank of sergeant before retiring in 1969 to pursue a career in aviation research and writing.[2] He was a life member of the Royal Air Force Association.[2]
Writingedit
Bowyer produced over forty books relating to the Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force and the Royal Naval Air Service. He told Contemporary Authors:
My motivation? Primarily to place on permanent record accurate accounts of men, deeds, and events connected with Royal Air Force history. This is exemplified (perhaps) by For Valour: The Air V.C.s which is now accepted as the standard reference work on the subject. I am tired of reading historical drivel as perpetrated by 'well-known' authors, most of whom are simply novelists or journalists with no background knowledge of genuine aviation history. Too many 'military historians' are simply writers jumping on the history bandwagon only for profit.[2]
He began to write while in service with the RAF, contributing to squadron newsletters and similar publications wherever he was stationed. His first book attempt was on RAF Calshot[1] but his first major work was The Flying Elephants, a history of Number 27 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Air Force from 1915 to 1969 (Macdonald, 1972),[4] a unit in which Bowyer served,[1] which received a foreword by Air Marshal Sir Andrew McKee.
In 1979 he edited a translation from German into English of Armand van Ishoven's life of the First World War flying ace Ernst Udet, Udet (1977), published in English as The Fall of an Eagle: The Life of Fighter Ace Ernst Udet.[5]
He wrote nine titles for Ian Allan's At War series describing the operational career of various British Second World War aircraft. For a time he was the editor of the journal of the Cross and Cockade International society devoted to the history of aviation during the First World War.[2] His books were researched through his personal library, clippings, photographs, and especially personal contacts. He rarely consulted the Ministry of Defence or the Public Record Office, though he had good contacts with the Imperial War Museum.[1]
Death and legacyedit
Bowyer died on 18 June 2008 at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital after a short illness. He was cremated at St Faith's Crematorium, Norwich, on 2 July and his ashes scattered at RAF Halton. He received an obituary in the Cross and Cockade International.[1]
Selected publicationsedit
1970sedit
The Flying Elephants: A History of No.27 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps-Royal Air Force, 1915–69. Macdonald and Co., London, 1972. ISBN 0356038165
Adventures in the Air. Macmillan, London, 1973. (Juvenile, 4 parts)
Airmen of World War I: Men of the British and Empire Air Forces in Old Photographs. Arms & Armour Press, London, 1975. ISBN 0882543563
Hampden Special. Ian Allan, London, 1976. ISBN 0711006830
History of the RAF. Hamlyn, London, 1977. ISBN 0600375889
Sopwith Camel: King of Combat. Glasney Press, 1978. ISBN 095028257X
Guns in the Sky: The Air Gunners Of World War Two. Dent, London, 1979. ISBN 046004429X
1980sedit
Supermarine Spitfire. Arms and Armour/Bison, 1980. ISBN 0890093210
Air War Over Europe: 1939–1945. William Kimber, London, 1981. ISBN 0718302389
The Age of the Biplane. Hamlyn/Bison, London, 1981. ISBN 0600349454
Fighter Command 1936–1968. Dent, London, 1981. ISBN 0460043889
Surviving World War II Aircraft. Batsford, London, 1981. ISBN 0713434317
^Cover notes, For Valour: The Air VC's. Metheun, London, 1985. ISBN 0423016903
^Robbins, Keith. (1996). A Bibliography of British History, 1914–1989. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 379. ISBN 978-0-19-822496-9.
^The fall of an eagle : the life of fighter ace Ernst Udet / Armand van Ishoven ; English version [translated from the German] by Chaz Bowyer. British Library. Retrieved 12 July 2017.