Michael Gow (British Army officer)

General Sir James Michael Gow GCB (3 June 1924 - 26 March 2013) was a British Army General who reached high office in the 1980s.

Military career
Educated at Winchester College, Gow was commissioned into the Scots Guards during World War II. He was one of the first British officers into Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in April 1945.

He became Commanding Officer of 2nd Bn Scots Guards in 1964 and Commander of 4th Guards Brigade in 1967 before becoming a Brigadier on the General Staff of Headquarters British Army of the Rhine in 1971. He was appointed General Officer Commanding 4th Division in 1973 and Director of Army Training in 1975.

He then moved on to be General Officer Commanding Scotland and Governor of Edinburgh Castle in 1979 and Commander-in-Chief of British Army of the Rhine and Northern Army Group in 1980. He was appointed Commandant of the Royal College of Defence Studies in 1984 and retired in 1986. He was   ADC General to the Queen from 1981 to 1984. He died on 26 March 2013.

Family
In 1946 he married Jane Emily Scott and they had one son and four daughters.