John Noel Dowland

Squadron Leader John Noel Dowland GC (6 November 1914–13 January 1942) was awarded the George Cross, as was civilian armament instructor Leonard Henry Harrison, for his gallantry in defusing a bomb which had fallen on the grain ship SS Kildare in Immingham docks on 11 February 1940. The bomb proved extremely difficult to defuse as it had embedded itself at an extreme angle in the main deck. The citation, which appeared in the London Gazette on 7 January 1941, noted that he displayed the same " conspicuous courage and devotion to duty in circumstances of exceptional danger and difficulty" when defusing a bomb on a trawler in June 1940.

His and Harrison's actions were the earliest to be awarded the George Cross, although Thomas Alderson's award was the first to be announced.

He is buried in Capuccini Naval Cemetery, Malta.