Major Richard Charles Lowndes MC was commissioned in 1909 and served in the Gunners largely in India.
He was initiated into Mount Everest Lodge No 2439 in Darjeeling, Northern India (which still exists today under the Grand Lodge of India under the name of Mount Everest Lebong Lodge No 52). He also joined Felix Lodge No 355 under the Scots Constitution, and Ubique Chapter No 1789, becoming First Principal in 1938.
After retiring from the Army he stayed in Indian for a while as a shipping merchant at Killick Nixon in Bombay, India, before returning to Boars Hill in Oxfordshire.