Obituary: Brigadier Colin Cowan, CBE DL

Brig Colin Cowan: Soldier who took command of a regiment at 20 and went on to help develop Cumbernauld

Born: 16 October, 1920, in Edinburgh. Died: 21 February, 2014 in Edinburgh, aged 93

COLIN Cowan was astounded to be given command of an army regiment after only four months’ service. He was barely 20. It was 1940 and his superiors’ faith in the young soldier was an early acknowledgement of his leadership abilities, attributes in great demand at a time when the country was deep in the grip of the Second World War.

Over the next 30 years, he would more than justify that confidence, serving his country from Burma to Malta and Germany, gaining a triple first at Cambridge and becoming an adviser to the United Nations before going on to lead the organisation that developed Cumbernauld as a new town. He would also represent the Queen as a deputy Lord Lieutenant.

Whether in military or civilian life, he was indefatigable, physically and intellectually: a complex and unusual character who demanded incredibly high standards of himself and others, but one who got things done.

The army was in his heritage: there were lieutenant colonels in the Royal Engineers on both sides of the family and so it was almost expected that he would also sign up. Yet, despite that background, he could never be described as a typical military officer, his myriad interests including art and playing the cello.

His father, Lt Col SH Cowan DSO, had served on the Western Front in the First World War and his mother was a professional violinist and gifted artist. Raised in Edinburgh’s Colinton area and educated at Cargilfield Prep School in Barnton, he then headed south for military training at Wellington College, outside London, taking his cello with him.

He was commissioned in February 1940, spending his first year in Northern Ireland and later, reflecting on his service record, noted: “I had a lovely time and was astonished to be given command of an engineering regiment of British soldiers, having only served some four months in 1940 as a second command in a field company.”

In 1942, he was appointed an instructor with the Royal Bombay Sappers and Miners and served at Kirkee before spending the next couple of years with 26 India Division in Burma, where he took part in the seaborne landings at Arakan and Rangoon, during the operation to recapture the country from the Japanese.

He returned to Kirkee as corps adjutant until 1946 after which he returned to Britain to begin his mechanical sciences tripos studies at Trinity College, Cambridge. Three years later, he had achieved the impressive feat of a triple first.

Army life continued in the early 1950s, with posts at the staff college and the War Office in London, followed by a spell at the Malta Fortress Squadron, Royal Engineers. By 1956, he was back at the War Office before being posted to Germany as commanding officer of 35 Corps Engineer Regiment at Osnabruck in 1960.

He continued to rise through the ranks, being promoted to colonel, working on the RE combat development staff and as a defence adviser in the UK mission to the United Nations in New York. In 1966, he was appointed chief staff officer to the army’s engineer-in-chief at the Ministry of Defence and became a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers the following year. He completed his service as a brigadier and the army’s planning engineer.

After leaving military life in 1970, he still had much yet to achieve and took on the role as chief executive of Cumbernauld Development Corporation, giving it just as much dedication as he had shown to the army.

He was a man for whom commitment to duty was uppermost and he brought with him a military bearing, an engineer’s eye for detail and a formidable intellect. He was also an individual whose social conscience drove him on to help improve the lives of others.

He lived in the town, which he adopted with enthusiasm, proving to be both a striking figurehead and skilful advocate for Cumbernauld at home and on trade missions abroad, a contribution that saw him rewarded with the CBE in 1984, the year before he retired.

A couple of years after joining the corporation, he had been appointed deputy Lord Lieutenant of Dunbartonshire and continued to serve the Queen until 1986.

The 1980s also brought him periods of both great sadness and joy in his personal life. His wife Elizabeth, whom he had married in 1949, died in 1985. She had been a talented young doctor who had given up her career to support and follow her husband and he, in turn, had been devoted to her and their three children. However, he ultimately followed her advice and married again, in 1988, enjoying 25 years with his second wife, Jen.

In retirement, his boundless energy found new focus, helping to secure the restoration of the Edinburgh memorial garden to the 17th century botanist and apothecary John Livingston, chairing the Greenhill and Church Hill Amenity Association and serving as a member of Merchiston Community Council.

He also immersed himself in books, art, music and hillwalking. Extremely well read, he knew much of Kipling’s works by heart, enjoyed musical recitals and fostered his love of art, adding to his family collection with landscapes, still lives and tapestries.

Photography and travel were also important – he once took his young family on a five-week odyssey across 27 American states, his meticulous nature enabling him to produce the receipts and fuel consumption rates 30 years later – though latterly he favoured river cruises.

Predeceased by his first wife and their elder son Michael, he is survived by his second wife, his children Simon and Lou and four grandchildren.