Lieutenant-Colonel Bill Bowen
7th Reconnaissance Regiment (17th Hussars)

A man of considerable charm, Colonel Bowen spoke in the distinct accent of the English Montreal elite. It is an accent that is disappearing with his generation. Colonel was still a handsome man in his eighties. He was a mixture of the conventional and the eccentric. In the last decade of his life, he still wore jackets and a cravat at home, but also sported a small earring in his left ear lobe.

(National Post, 5 Apr 1999, 20)

Born on 12 August 1913 in Winnipeg, William Charles Bowen was a McGill University graduate had been commissioned in the 17th Duke of York’s Royal Canadian Hussars in 1935. With the redesignated 7th Reconnaissance Regiment, he was promoted to captain in October 1941 then made major a year later. He landed on with the invasion force on D-Day and then commanded “A” Squadron during the Battle of the Scheldt.

When Lieutenant-Colonel T.C. Lewis took over 9th Infantry Brigade and later died in action, Major C.A. Baerman assumed command of the Hussars and Bowen became second-in-command. He officially took over from Baerman when he was recalled to Canada in summer 1945. Writing in the regimental newspaper, he said of demobilization and rehabilitation:

This present phase of the regiment’s history is, in many ways one of the most difficult it has had to face. All of us now have but one primary thought and that is to be reunited with our families. We know that that time is coming and knowing that, this period of waiting becomes a period of marking time, and therefore it places considerable strain on keeping up our morale as soldiers. The answer is to keep our minds and bodies occupied with work, studies and sports and thus the days of waiting will pass quicker than we anticipate.

(Rec’ce Report (7th CRR), 22 Aug 1945)

Bowen led the regiment home in December 1945 and remained commanding officer of the 17th Hussars until 1947.

He died on 23 December 1998 in Ormstown, Quebec.