Is one too old to fight at the age of 65? Sir Walter Cowan didn’t think so.

It was reported in the news this week that the UK Government plans to amend the law to allow the mobilisation of retired servicemen aged up to 65 for ‘warlike preparations’ in the face of the growing threat in Europe from Russia. Those who have suggested that the age has been set too high might wish to note the example of Sir Walter Cowan.

Cowan was born in 1871 and joined the Royal Navy in 1884. He saw action in the Battle of Omdurman and the Boer War, and in 1917, was appointed in command of the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron, seeing action in the Second Battle of Heligoland. The following year, he was promoted to rear admiral and retained command of his squadron. In 1919, he was despatched with his ships to the Baltic with orders to keep its sea lanes open to the newly established states of Finland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. Such states faced threats from the Bolsheviks of the new Soviet Union to the north and the Germans from the south. Whilst the Germans had agreed an armistice with the western allies in 1918, they didn’t see this as hindering their ambitions to gain control of the Baltic States. Bereft of communications with the Admiralty, Cowan had to take the responsibility himself to direct his strategy. By forceful diplomacy, he managed to protect the independence of the newly emerged Baltic states and Estonia has recognised this by naming one of its modern minehunters after him.

After rising to the rank of vice admiral, Cowan retired in 1931 at the age of 60. However, he was good friends with Roger Keyes. Readers of my first novel, The Custom of the Trade, will recall that during WW1, Keyes was the Inspecting Captain of Submarines before serving in the Dardanelles campaign as a commodore. Early in WW2, Keyes was recalled to the Navy to serve as the Director of Combined Operations. Cowan begged his old friend for an appointment. Keyes duly obliged in 1941 by putting him in charge of the training of the new Commando corps in small boat handling, but Cowan had to revert to the rank of commander.

When his commandos deployed to North Africa in 1943, Cowan was aged 72 and should have remained in Scotland, but he wangled matters such that he engaged with the fight against the Axis forces. However, he was taken prisoner by the Italians. That should have been ‘Gave Over’ for Cowan, but the Italians didn’t feel equipped to look after geriatric prisoners and included him with an exchange of Allied POWs for interned Italian seaman. The Italians made the mistake of not stipulating that the repatriated prisoners shouldn’t return to the theatre in active service. Cowan promptly rejoined his commandos and saw action in Italy, earning a bar to his WW1 DSO. He then joined Fitzroy Maclean’s mission to Yugoslavia, helping Tito’s partisans fight the Germans. At the end of the war, he retired again and died in 1956.

I have interested myself in Cowan ever since 1996 when I looked after Sir Fitzroy and Lady Maclean at dinner one night. Sir Fitzroy told me a little of his experiences with the SAS in Yugoslavia and mentioned that he had served with an admiral in the Commandos who had impressed him greatly. For years I wondered who that admiral might have been, since surely, he was too senior to have served in such a role. Even then, I thought it would make a great tale for a book. It was some years later that I came across Cowan in my research for one of the next stories in my WW1 For Those in Peril series. Once I learned of Cowan’s war record, I became convinced that Cowan must have been the man Maclean had mentioned. However, it wasn’t until the end of last year when an Australian reader kindly sent me the extract of his uncle’s diary that I received the proof I needed. Andrew Sholl’s uncle wrote about hosting Tito, Maclean and Cowan onboard his ship in the Adriatic. I will be including the meeting in my next book and, who knows, perhaps one day I will write that book about Cowan!