Douglas Lowe (RAF officer)

Air Chief Marshal Sir Douglas Charles Lowe (born 14 March 1922) GCB, DFC, AFC was a World War II pilot and a senior commander in the Royal Air Force in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Family
Douglas Charles Lowe was born on 14 March 1922. He married Doreen Elizabeth Nichols the daughter of Ralph Henry Nichols. Their only daughter, Frances Elizabeth Lowe, married Christopher Russell Bailey, the 5th Baron Glanusk.

RAF career
Lowe flew as a pilot during World War II, winning the DFC and the AFC. After the War he remained in the RAF, being awarded a permanent commission in 1946. He was Station Commander RAF Cranwell from November 1963 to 1965.

In 1973 Lowe was appointed Air Officer Commanding No. 18 Group and he continued in this post until 1975. Thereafter, he was promoted to air chief marshal and was appointed the Controller of Aircraft: he remained in that post until late 1982. Lowe was the Chief of Defence Procurement at the Ministry of Defence from 1982 to 1983. He retired on 22 August 1983.