Andrew Cowper

Who was Andrew Cowper?

Andrew King Cowper MC & Two Bars was an Australian fighter pilot and flying ace of the First World War. Born in Bingara, New South Wales, he was educated in the United Kingdom at Eastbourne College. Joining the Royal Flying Corps in May 1917, he was posted to No. 24 Squadron RFC in France and was credited with shooting down nineteen German aircraft between November 1917 and March 1918. Cowper was awarded the Military Cross and two Bars during the war for his efforts in destroying German aircraft, in addition to carrying out ground-attacks. He was posted to the Home Establishment in April 1918, serving out the remainder of the war in the United Kingdom; he was discharged in 1920. Returning to Australia, he established his own horticultural business. He served in the Royal Australian Air Force in the Second World War, and died on 25 June 1980 aged eighty-one.