Andrew Cowper

Andrew King Cowper, (16 November 1898 – 25 June 1980) 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.

Early life Andrew Cowper was born in Bingara, New South Wales, on 16 November 1898, the fifth child of Henry Percival Cowper, a surveyor, and his Channel Islander wife Amy Fraser (née Farquhar). Cowper was a descendant of poet William Cowper and colonial administrator Philip Gidley King. He was educated in England at Eastbourne College in Sussex, graduating in 1916. Cowper achieved flying ace status on the new aircraft, being credited with his fifth victory on 19 February 1918. Thus during the period of 18 February to 6 March, he had been credited with shooting down six hostile aircraft, bringing his tally to nine. These proved to be Cowper's final victories of the war, bringing his ultimate score to nineteen aircraft shot down and making him No. 24 Squadron's fourth highest scoring ace.

In addition to working against German airborne elements, Cowper carried out twenty ground-attack sorties between 21 March and 1 April 1918.

Post-military career and later life Cowper returned to Australia on his retirement from the Royal Air Force, working on his parents' sheep farming property near Coonamble, New South Wales. At the district registrar's office, Randwick, Cowper wed Miriam Goldberg on 28 April 1924; the couple later had sons Leon and Henry. Moving to Sydney, Cowper became proprietor of a seed and plant merchant company, Henderson & Co., while Miriam established a florist store. As their business ventures expanded, the couple purchased a gladioli-farm at Mona Vale. his son Leon had also served as a warrant officer in the Royal Australian Air Force during the war.

An accomplished and passionate horticulturalist, Cowper cultured a "fine garden" at his home in Bellevue Hill. A member of the Australian Jockey Club and Sydney Turf Club, Cowper died at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, on 25 June 1980. Predeceased by his wife and children by some years, he was cremated.