Robert Sidney Bowen

Robert Sidney Bowen, Jr. (October 4, 1900 – April 11, 1977) was a World War I aviator, newspaper journalist, magazine editor and author who was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and died of cancer in Honolulu, Hawaii, at the age of 76.[1] He is best known for his boys' series books written during World War II, the Dave Dawson War Adventure Series and the Red Randall Series. He also worked under the name R. Sidney Bowen and under the pseudonym James Robert Richard.[2]

Robert Sidney Bowen, Jr.
Robert Sidney Bowen, R.A.F.
Born(1900-10-04)October 4, 1900
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedApril 11, 1977(1977-04-11) (aged 76)
AllegianceUnited States of America
Service/branchRoyal Air Force
RankSecond Lieutenant
Other workJournalist and writer

Life

Before becoming an author

Robert Sidney Bowen was born in Allston, Massachusetts to Robert Sidney and Catharine Sinclair (Fenton) Bowen.[3] His grandfather, Charles F. Bowen, fought in the Fifth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War. Bowen attended the Newton High School at Newton, Massachusetts. After the World War I broke out in Europe, Bowen left school to drive an ambulance for the American Field Service (AFS) in France. In May 1917, the United States Army Ambulance Service took over the AFS, and Bowen, being underage to serve, returned to the United States. When he turned seventeen, he signed up in October 1917 with the Great Britain's Royal Flying Corps in recruiting office in New York City as a Flight Cadet. He went through several phases of training, including basic military training, ground instruction, and flight instruction at Training Depot Stations (TDS),[4] in different locations, first, at Toronto University, then at Camp Mohawk, Deseronto, Canada, at Camp Leaside, Beamsville, Canada, and at Camp Taliaferro, Fort Worth, Texas.[3] According to The London Gazette, Bowen was granted a temporary commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force on June 20, 1918.[5]

In July 1918, he went overseas to England, and was assigned to the 84th Squadron, R.A.F. fighting in France on SE5 fighter aircraft.[3] He saw limited air combat over France but achieved no documented by the authorities victories despite claims of shooting down two enemy airplanes on the eve of the Armistice. He wrote to his family, "I reported my flight, but it was hard lines for me because I have no idea where the German planes went down and therefore they can't be credited as official... My bus has 33 bullet holes in it and three in my flying suit, which shows I was in some close action."[3] After the end of hostilities at the Western Front, Bowen transferred to the United States Army Air Service.[6]

After the war, Bowen began working as a journalist for the London Daily Mail, the Paris edition of the Chicago Tribune, and two Boston newspapers.[1] For several years (until the 1930s), he was editor-in-chief of Aviation Magazine. He also worked as an editor for Flying News and several motor magazines.

As an author
Bowen's "I Cover the Murder Front" was the lead story in the June 1937 issue of Black Book Detective.

Bowen turned to writing in 1930, using his prestige as editor-in-chief of Aviation Magazine to write Flying From The Ground Up, a non-fiction work on how to fly an airplane. He began freelancing for pulp magazines. In 1934, he headlined his own pulp magazine, Dusty Ayres And His Battle Birds, for Popular Publications. Twelve issues were released, the first ten published monthly from July 1934 through April 1935. Bowen continued writing for mystery, adventure, sports, and aviation pulp magazines through the 1950s.

After the invasion of Poland by Germany in 1939 sparked World War II, Crown Publishers called Bowen, asking for an adventure story based on the war.[7] The Dave Dawson series , also known as the War Adventure series, was the result. Bowen got to work immediately, and the first book, Dave Dawson At Dunkirk, was published in 1941. A total of 15 volumes were released between 1941 and 1946.

By 1945 the series had sold over 2,000,000 copies. Bowen was earning 2​1⁄2 cents per copy sold, netting him nearly $10,000 a year.[7] All volumes, except for the scarce final volume, were subsequently reprinted (with cheaper quality and prices) by Saalfield Publishers in Akron, Ohio.

Inspired by the success of the Dave Dawson books, Crown's competing publisher Grosset & Dunlap hired Bowen to write a similar series for them. The Red Randall series debuted in 1944, selling 200,000 copies its first year.[7]

During this time, Bowen lived in Wilton, Connecticut, writing seven days a week, from 9 to 5, in an office that he rented over an old garage. He averaged 10,000 words per day, and could complete a novel in ten days.[7] He also never revised his work, believing that any tampering with the story would ruin it.[2]

After the war, Bowen turned to writing books aimed toward adolescent boys, on topics such as aviation, cars, and baseball. He also began writing books about horses under the pseudonym James Robert Richard. Most of the books he wrote during this period were published by Lothrop, Lee & Shepard. Many of his baseball books were later reprinted by Grosset & Dunlap in their series of "Famous Sports Stories." Most of his other books were published by Chilton, Whitman Publishing, Criterion.

Robert Sidney Bowen and his second wife, MaryAnn (MacIntyre) Bowen, had two sons, James Sinclair Bowen and Richard Fenton Bowen, and one daughter, Virginia Bowen, and, at the time of his death, five grandchildren, Katherine Ann Bowen, Thomas Robert Bowen, Cheryl L. Bowen, Wayne Tucker, and Linda. Robert Sidney Bowen was first married to Marjorie Percy Bowen and had a son Robert Watson Bowen who has three children Greg, Jennifer and Beth.

Partial bibliography

Series Books

Dusty Ayres And His Battle Birds
Date Title
July 1934Black Lightning
August 1934Crimson Doom
September 1934Purple Tornado
October 1934The Screaming Eye
November 1934The Green Thunderbolt
December 1934The Red Destroyer
January 1935The White Death
February 1935The Black Avenger
March 1935The Silver Typhoon
April 1935The Troposphere F-S
May–June 1935The Blue Cyclone
July–August 1935The Telsa Raiders

Dave Dawson War Adventure Series
Year Title
1941Dave Dawson at Dunkirk
1941Dave Dawson with the R.A.F.
1941Dave Dawson in Libya
1941Dave Dawson on Convoy Patrol
1941Dave Dawson Flight Lieutenant
1942Dave Dawson At Singapore
1942Dave Dawson With The Pacific Fleet
1942Dave Dawson With The Air Corps
1942Dave Dawson With The Commandos
1943Dave Dawson On The Russian Front
1943Dave Dawson With The Flying Tigers
1943Dave Dawson On Guadalcanal
1944Dave Dawson At Casablanca
1944Dave Dawson With The Eighth Air Force
1946Dave Dawson At Truk

Red Randall Series
Year Title
1944Red Randall At Pearl Harbor
1944Red Randall On Active Duty
1944Red Randall Over Tokyo
1944Red Randall At Midway
1944Red Randall On New Guinea
1945Red Randall In The Aleutians
1945Red Randall In Burma
1946Red Randall's One-Man War

Non-Series Books

Using Real Name
Year Title Publisher
1931Flying From The Ground UpMcGraw
1948The Winning PitchLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1949Player, ManagerLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1949Fourth DownLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1950Ball Hawk'Lothrop, Lee & Shepard
1950Blocking BackLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1951Hot CornerLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1951Touchdown KidLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1952Canyon FuryLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1952Pitcher Of The YearLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1953Behind The BatLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1954Infield SparkLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1954The Million-Dollar FumbleLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1955The Big InningLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1955The Last White LineLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1956The 4th OutLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1957No HitterLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1958The Big HitLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1959Triple PlayLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1960Hot Rod AngelsChilton
1960Pennant FeverLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1961Million-Dollar RookieLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1961The Airport, Our Link To The SkyWhitman
1962Bat BoyLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1962Flight Into DangerChilton
1962Wings For An EagleChilton
1963Hot Rod Fury
1963Perfect GameLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1963Dirt Track DangerDoubleday
1963They Found The Unknown: The Stories Of Nine Great Discoveries In The Field Of Medical KnowledgeMacrae
1964Hot Corner BluesLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1964Hot Rod RodeoCriterion
1965Rebel RookieLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1965They Flew To Glory: The Story Of The Lafayette Flying CorpsLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1966Hot Rod PatrolCriterion
1966Man On FirstLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1967Hot Rod ShowdownCriterion
1967Lightning SouthpawLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1968Hot Rod OutlawsChilton
1969WipeoutCriterion
1969Hawaii Five-O: Top SecretWhitman
1969Infield FlashLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1971Born To FlyCriterion
1973Hot Rod DoomCriterion

Using pseudonym James Robert Richard
Year Title Publisher
1950The Club TeamLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1952Fighting HalfbackLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1953Quarterback, All-AmericanLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1954Phantom MustangLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1955The Purple PalominoLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1956The Appaloosa CurseLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1957Snow King, Lipizzan HorseLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1958Double M For MorgansLothrop, Lee & Shepard
1959Joker, The Polo PonyLothrop, Lee & Shepard

Notes
  1. Obituary, The New York Times, 14 April 1977.
  2. "Bowen, Robert Sydney" (sic), Something About The Author, ed. Anne Commire. Vol. 52. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1988, pp. 24–26.
  3. Ticknor, Caroline. New England Aviators, 1914-1918: Their Portraits and Their Records. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co, 1919, p. 90.
  4. First World War, RAF Museum
  5. The London Gazette, 6 August, 1918, p. 9270, "The undermentioned Flight Cadets are granted temp. commns. as 2nd Lts. (A.): Robert Sidney Bowen".
  6. Sloan, James J. Wings of Honor, American Airmen in World War I: A Compilation of All United States Pilots, Observers, Gunners and Mechanics Who Flew against the Enemy in the War of 1914-1918. Atglen, Pa: Schiffer Military/Aviation History, 1994.
  7. Meeker, Oden & Olivia. "For Boys Only." Collier's Weekly. 24 November 1945.
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