Allan Rowley

Frederick Allan Rowley, CMG, OBE, MC (27 July 1922 – 28 July 2014) was a British Army officer, Foreign Office diplomat, and Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) controller.

Early life He was born on 27 July in 1922 Rajputana, British India, the son of RQMS Rowley, Worcestershire Regiment. He was educated at Haig School, Aldershot.

Rowley "developed notable leadership qualities", fighting in Burma and southeast Asia, and was "just the sort of man the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), or MI6, was looking for", according to his obituary in The Times.

Rowley joined the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) in 1948.

In 1963, Rowley completed a three-year secondment with the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS), and became responsible for intelligence gathering in Rhodesia, under John Debenham Taylor.

Honours Rowley was awarded the Military Cross for his exploits in the Burmese jungle. In the 1978 New Year Honours, then listed as "Counsellor, Foreign & Commonwealth Office", he was awarded a CMG.

Personal life He met his future wife, the "vivacious" Anne Cresswell, an SIS secretary, at a roof party in Cairo in 1945. They had four children: Charlotte, Sarah, Joanna and Nicholas. His daughter Sarah married the art dealer Johnny Van Haeften.