| Robert Sidney Bowen, Jr. | |
|---|---|
 Robert Sidney Bowen, R.A.F. | |
| Born | October 4, 1900 |
| Died | April 11, 1977 (aged 76) |
| Place of birth | Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Service/branch | Royal Air Force |
| Rank | Second Lieutenant |
| Other work | Journalist and writer |
Robert Sidney Bowen, Jr. (1900, October 4 – April 11, 1977) was a World War I aviator, newspaper journalist, magazine editor and author who was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and died of cancer in Honolulu, Hawaii, at the age of 76.[1] He is best known for his boys' series books written during World War II, the Dave Dawson War Adventure Series and the Red Randall Series. He also worked under the name R. Sidney Bowen and under the pseudonym James Robert Richard.[2]
Life[]
Before becoming an author[]
Robert Sidney Bowen was born in Allston, Massachusetts to Robert Sidney and Catharine Sinclair (Fenton) Bowen.[3] His grandfather, Charles F. Bowen, fought in the Fifth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War. Bowen attended the Newton High School at Newton, Massachusetts. After the World War I broke out in Europe, Bowen left school to drive an ambulance for the American Field Service (AFS) in France. In May 1917, the United States Army Ambulance Service took over the AFS, and Bowen, being underage to serve, returned to the United States. When he turned seventeen, he signed up in October 1917 with the Great Britain's Royal Flying Corps in recruiting office in New York City as a Flight Cadet. He went through several phases of training, including basic military training, ground instruction, and flight instruction at Training Depot Stations (TDS),[4] in different locations, first, at Toronto University, then at Camp Mohawk, Deseronto, Canada, at Camp Leaside, Beamsville, Canada, and at Camp Taliaferro, Fort Worth, Texas.[3] According to The London Gazette, Bowen was granted a temporary commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force on June 20, 1918.[5]
In July 1918, he went overseas to England, and was assigned to the 84th Squadron, R.A.F. fighting in France on SE5 fighter aircraft.[3] He saw limited air combat over France but achieved no documented by the authorities victories despite claims of shooting down two enemy airplanes on the eve of the Armistice. He wrote to his family, "I reported my flight, but it was hard lines for me because I have no idea where the German planes went down and therefore they can't be credited as official... My bus has 33 bullet holes in it and three in my flying suit, which shows I was in some close action."[3] After the end of hostilities at the Western Front, Bowen transferred to the United States Army Air Service.[6]
After the WWI, Bowen began working as a journalist for the London Daily Mail, the Paris edition of the Chicago Tribune, and two Boston newspapers.[1] For several years (until the 1930s), he was editor-in-chief of Aviation Magazine. He also worked as an editor for Flying News and several motor magazines.
As an author[]
Bowen turned to writing in 1930, using his prestige as editor-in-chief of Aviation Magazine to write Flying From The Ground Up, a non-fiction work on how to fly an airplane. He began freelancing for pulp magazines. In 1934, he started his own pulp magazine, Dusty Ayres And His Battle Birds, for Popular Publications. Twelve issues were released, the first eleven published monthly from July 1934 through July 1935, with most issues released monthly. Bowen continued writing for mystery, adventure, sports, and aviation pulp magazines through the 1950s.
After the invasion of Poland by Germany in 1939 sparked World War II, Crown Publishers called Bowen, asking for an adventure story based on the war.[7] The Dave Dawson series , also known as the War Adventure series, was the result. Bowen got to work immediately, and the first book, Dave Dawson At Dunkirk, was published in 1941. A total of 15 volumes were released between 1941 and 1946.
By 1945 the series had sold over 2,000,000 copies. Bowen was earning 21⁄2 cents per copy sold, netting him nearly $10,000 a year.[7] All volumes, except for the scarce final volume, were subsequently reprinted (with cheaper quality and prices) by Saalfield Publishers in Akron, Ohio.
Inspired by the success of the Dave Dawson books, Crown's competing publisher Grosset & Dunlap hired Bowen to write a similar series for them. The Red Randall series debuted in 1944, selling 200,000 copies its first year.[7]
During this time, Bowen lived in Wilton, Connecticut, writing seven days a week, from 9 to 5, in an office that he rented over an old garage. He averaged 10,000 words per day, and could complete a novel in ten days.[7] He also never revised his work, believing that any tampering with the story would ruin it.[2]
After the war, Bowen turned to writing books aimed toward adolescent boys, on topics such as aviation, cars, and baseball. He also began writing books about horses under the pseudonym James Robert Richard. Most of the books he wrote during this period were published by Lothrop, Lee & Shepard. Many of his baseball books were later reprinted by Grosset & Dunlap in their series of "Famous Sports Stories." Most of his other books were published by Chilton, Whitman Publishing, Criterion.
Robert Sidney Bowen and his second wife, MaryAnn (MacIntyre) Bowen, had two sons, James Sinclair Bowen and Richard Fenton Bowen, and one daughter, Virginia Bowen, and, at the time of his death, five grandchildren, Katherine Ann Bowen, Thomas Robert Bowen, Cheryl L. Bowen, Wayne Tucker, and Linda. Robert Sidney Bowen was first married to Marjorie Percy Bowen and had a son Robert Watson Bowen who has three children Greg, Jennifer and Beth.
Partial bibliography[]
Series Books[]
Dusty Ayres And His Battle Birds[]
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| July 1934 | Black Lightning |
| August 1934 | Crimson Doom |
| September 1934 | Purple Tornado |
| October 1934 | The Screaming Eye |
| November 1934 | The Green Thunderbolt |
| December 1934 | The Red Destroyer |
| January 1935 | The White Death |
| February 1935 | The Black Avenger |
| March 1935 | The Silver Typhoon |
| April 1935 | The Troposphere F-S |
| May–June 1935 | The Blue Cyclone |
| July–August 1935 | The Telsa Raiders |
Dave Dawson War Adventure Series[]
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 1941 | Dave Dawson at Dunkirk |
| 1941 | Dave Dawson with the R.A.F. |
| 1941 | Dave Dawson in Libya |
| 1941 | Dave Dawson on Convoy Patrol |
| 1941 | Dave Dawson Flight Lieutenant |
| 1942 | Dave Dawson At Singapore |
| 1942 | Dave Dawson With The Pacific Fleet |
| 1942 | Dave Dawson With The Air Corps |
| 1942 | Dave Dawson With The Commandos |
| 1943 | Dave Dawson On The Russian Front |
| 1943 | Dave Dawson With The Flying Tigers |
| 1943 | Dave Dawson On Guadalcanal |
| 1944 | Dave Dawson At Casablanca |
| 1944 | Dave Dawson With The Eighth Air Force |
| 1946 | Dave Dawson At Truk |
Red Randall Series[]
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 1944 | Red Randall At Pearl Harbor |
| 1944 | Red Randall On Active Duty |
| 1944 | Red Randall Over Tokyo |
| 1944 | Red Randall At Midway |
| 1944 | Red Randall On New Guinea |
| 1945 | Red Randall In The Aleutians |
| 1945 | Red Randall In Burma |
| 1946 | Red Randall's One-Man War |
Non-Series Books[]
Using Real Name[]
| Year | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| 1931 | Flying From The Ground Up | McGraw |
| 1948 | The Winning Pitch | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1949 | Player, Manager | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1949 | Fourth Down | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1950 | Ball Hawk' | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1950 | Blocking Back | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1951 | Hot Corner | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1951 | Touchdown Kid | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1952 | Canyon Fury | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1952 | Pitcher Of The Year | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1953 | Behind The Bat | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1954 | Infield Spark | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1954 | The Million-Dollar Fumble | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1955 | The Big Inning | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1955 | The Last White Line | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1956 | The 4th Out | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1957 | No Hitter | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1958 | The Big Hit | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1959 | Triple Play | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1960 | Hot Rod Angels | Chilton |
| 1960 | Pennant Fever | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1961 | Million-Dollar Rookie | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1961 | The Airport, Our Link To The Sky | Whitman |
| 1962 | Bat Boy | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1962 | Flight Into Danger | Chilton |
| 1962 | Wings For An Eagle | Chilton |
| 1963 | Hot Rod Fury | |
| 1963 | Perfect Game | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1963 | Dirt Track Danger | Doubleday |
| 1963 | They Found The Unknown: The Stories Of Nine Great Discoveries In The Field Of Medical Knowledge | Macrae |
| 1964 | Hot Corner Blues | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1964 | Hot Rod Rodeo | Criterion |
| 1965 | Rebel Rookie | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1965 | They Flew To Glory: The Story Of The Lafayette Flying Corps | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1966 | Hot Rod Patrol | Criterion |
| 1966 | Man On First | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1967 | Hot Rod Showdown | Criterion |
| 1967 | Lightning Southpaw | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1968 | Hot Rod Outlaws | Chilton |
| 1969 | Wipeout | Criterion |
| 1969 | Hawaii Five-O: Top Secret | Whitman |
| 1969 | Infield Flash | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1971 | Born To Fly | Criterion |
| 1973 | Hot Rod Doom | Criterion |
Using pseudonym James Robert Richard[]
| Year | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | The Club Team | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1952 | Fighting Halfback | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1953 | Quarterback, All-American | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1954 | Phantom Mustang | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1955 | The Purple Palomino | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1956 | The Appaloosa Curse | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1957 | Snow King, Lipizzan Horse | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1958 | Double M For Morgans | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
| 1959 | Joker, The Polo Pony | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard |
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Obituary, The New York Times, 14 April 1977.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Ticknor, Caroline. New England Aviators, 1914-1918: Their Portraits and Their Records. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co, 1919, p. 90.
- ↑ First World War, RAF Museum
- ↑ The London Gazette, 6 August, 1918, p. 9270, "The undermentioned Flight Cadets are granted temp. commns. as 2nd Lts. (A.): Robert Sidney Bowen".
- ↑ Sloan, James J. Wings of Honor, American Airmen in World War I: A Compilation of All United States Pilots, Observers, Gunners and Mechanics Who Flew against the Enemy in the War of 1914-1918. Atglen, Pa: Schiffer Military/Aviation History, 1994.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Meeker, Oden & Olivia. "For Boys Only." Collier's Weekly. 24 November 1945.
External links[]
- Works by Robert Sidney Bowen at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Robert Sidney Bowen at Internet Archive
- Works by R at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Dusty Ayres and his Battle Birds
The original article can be found at Robert Sidney Bowen and the edit history here.