John Samuel Rowlands
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Air Marshal Sir John Rowlands GC, KBE (September 23, 1915 – July 23, 2006) was a Welsh Royal Air Force officer who was awarded the George Cross for his work in bomb disposal and later worked in the development of Britain's nuclear weapons programme.
Rowlands was born in Hawarden, Flintshire. The citation for his George Cross declared: "For over two years, Wing Commander Rowlands has been employed on bomb-disposal duties and has repeatedly displayed the most conspicuous courage and unselfish devotion to duty in circumstances of great personal danger." He was invested with the GC by King George VI at Buckingham Palace on July 20, 1945.
After the war, he was posted to head an RAF team at the Atomic Warfare Research Establishment to participate in the development of the British atomic bomb. In the 1950s he was senior RAF advisor for the development of the H-bomb.
He was promoted to Air Marshal in 1970. He was appointed OBE in 1954 and KBE in 1971.
