Roberta Cowell
| Roberta Cowell | |
|---|---|
Roberta Cowell in Paris, early 1950s
|
|
| Born |
Robert Marshall Cowell 8 April 1918 Croydon, London |
| Died | 11 October 2011 (aged 93) Hampton, London |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | University College London |
| Occupation | Racing driver, aviator, businessperson |
| Spouse(s) | Diana Margaret Zelma Carpenter (1941–1952; divorced) |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent(s) |
|
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom
|
| Service/branch |
 Royal Air Force
|
| Years of service | 1942–1945 |
| Rank | Pilot officer |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Roberta Elizabeth Marshall Cowell (8 April 1918 – 11 October 2011) was a racing driver and World War II fighter pilot. She was the first known British transsexual woman to undergo sex reassignment surgery.
Roberta Cowell was born Robert Marshall Cowell, one of three children of Major-General Sir Ernest Marshall Cowell KBE CB (1886-1971) and Dorothy Elizabeth Miller (1886–1962).
Sir Ernest was a prominent surgeon who served in the Royal Army Medical Corps during World War I and became a surgeon at Croydon General Infirmary between the wars. During World War II, he again served in the army and was the Director of Medical Services for Allied forces in North Africa from 1942 to 1944. In 1944, he was made honorary surgeon to King George VI. Post-war, he was Public Medical Officer for the Allied High Commission (the Allied body that governed occupied Germany after the war).
Roberta Cowell attended Whitgift School, a Public School in Croydon and was an enthusiastic member of the school's Motor Club, along with John Cunningham, who would later be famous as an RAF Night fighter ace and test pilot. Towards the end of her school days, she visited Belgium, Germany, and Austria with a school friend. At the time, one of her hobbies was photography and film making, and she was briefly arrested in Germany for shooting a Cine film of a group of Nazis drilling. She secured her release by agreeing to destroy the film, but was able to substitute unused film stock, and keep the original footage.
Cowell left school at the age of 16 to join General Aircraft Limited as an apprentice aircraft engineer, but soon left to join the Royal Air Force, becoming an acting pilot officer on probation on 4 August 1936; Cowell began pilot-training, but was discharged because of air-sickness.
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