Alan Owen (RAF officer)

Alan Owen, DFC & Bar, AFC, DFM (8 July 1922 – 13 February 2010) was a British flying ace who served in the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. He is credited with having shot down at least fifteen aircraft.

Born in Chelsea, London, Owen joined the RAF in 1941. After his flying training was completed, he was posted to No. 600 Squadron which operated Bristol Beaufighter heavy fighters in a night fighting role. With Sergeant Vic McAllister as his radar operator, Owen achieved a number of aerial victories while flying in the North African theatre of operations and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal. Returned to the United Kingdom in November 1943, he performed instructing duties for several months before being posted to No. 85 Squadron, where he was reunited with McAllister. Still on night fighting duties, the pair flew sorties to German-occupied Europe and Germany, destroying a number of German aircraft. The pair's successes saw them awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar. After the war, Owen had a brief period in command of the squadron before he left the RAF in 1946.

Owen rejoined the RAF the following year. For the next several years he served in a number of posts, including periods as commander of No. 39 Squadron during the Suez Crisis, and No. 23 Squadron. He retired from the RAF in 1969 as a wing commander. For the next two years, he worked in the Middle East for the British Aircraft Co-operation Commission. Later, back in the United Kingdom, he was employed for two separate county councils in road safety campaigns. In his retirement, he lived in Sussex and was aged 87 at the time of his death in 2010.