Education
Royal Military College, Sandhurst.
General officer appointed Chief of Staff
Royal Military College, Sandhurst.
Educated at Tonbridge School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Dowler was commissioned into the East Surrey Regiment in 1914. He served in the First World War in France and Belgium. Dowler also saw active service in the Second World War, initially in 1939 as Commanding officer of the 1st Battalion the East Surrey Regiment and then as a General Staff Officer with the 49th (West Riding) Division.
In 1940 he was promoted to Brigadier on the General Staff of V Corps and subsequently Commander of 2nd Infantry Brigade.
He was involved in the Narvik expedition in 1940. In 1942 he was made General Officer Commanding 38th (Welsh) Division and then Major-General in charge of Administration of Southern Command.
He was put in charge of Administration for the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force in 1944. After the War he was appointed Chief of Staff of the British Army of the Rhine, before becoming Director of Infantry at the War Office in 1947.
He was General Officer Commanding East Africa Command from 1948 to 1951 and subsequently Colonel of the East Surrey Regiment until his resignation in 1954.