Editing Hugh Dowding (section)

==Later life==
[[File:Lord Dowding at Biggin Hill.jpg|thumb|Lord Dowding laying the foundation stone of the RAF chapel, now known as St. George's Chapel of Remembrance, at [[RAF Biggin Hill]] in 1951]]
Later in life, because of his belief that he was unjustly treated by the RAF, Dowding became increasingly bitter. The RAF passed him over for promotion to [[Marshal of the Royal Air Force]].<ref name=odnb/>

He approved [[Robert Wright (historian)|Robert Wright]]'s book ''Dowding and the Battle of Britain'', which argued that a conspiracy of [[Big Wing]] proponents, including [[Trafford Leigh-Mallory]] and [[Douglas Bader]], had engineered his sacking from Fighter Command.<ref>Wright 1970, p. 247</ref>

In 1951, Dowding laid the foundation stone of the Chapel of St George at [[RAF Biggin Hill]], now [[London Biggin Hill Airport]], in memory of fallen airmen.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rafchapelbigginhill.com/uploads/9/0/8/4/908434/chronicle_chapel0001.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.rafchapelbigginhill.com/uploads/9/0/8/4/908434/chronicle_chapel0001.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=Say A Prayer for St George's Chapel|publisher=RAF Chapel Biggin Hill|access-date=5 March 2016}}</ref>

Dowding and his second wife [[Muriel Dowding, Baroness Dowding|Baroness Dowding]] were both anti-[[vivisection]]ists, and in 1973 Britain's [[National Anti-Vivisection Society]] founded the Lord Dowding Fund for Humane Research in his honour.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ldf.org.uk/research/49/50/0/ |title=The Lord Dowding Fund for Humane Research|publisher=National Anti-Vivisection Society|access-date=19 August 2014}}</ref>

===Spiritualism===
In his retirement, Dowding became actively interested in [[Spiritualism (movement)|spiritualism]], both as a writer and speaker. His first book on the subject, ''Many Mansions'', was written in 1943, followed by ''Lychgate'' (1945), ''The Dark Star'' and ''God's Magic''. Rejecting conventional [[Christianity]], he joined the [[Theosophical Society]] which advocated belief in [[reincarnation]]. He wrote of meeting dead "RAF boys" in his sleep – spirits who flew fighters from mountain-top runways made of light.<ref name=herald/> Dowding became a vegetarian, based on his beliefs as a [[theosophist]] and spiritualist. Although he was a vegetarian, he believed that "animals will be killed to satisfy human needs for many a long day to come", and he made several appeals in the House of Lords for the humane killing of animals intended for food.<ref>Orange 2008, p. 262.</ref> He was also a member of the [[Fairy Investigation Society]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.strangehistory.net/2011/11/14/fairy-investigation-society/ |title=Fairy Investigation Society |date=13 November 2011 |publisher=Strange History|access-date= 19 August 2014}}</ref> Although he knew that people considered him a crank for his belief in fairies, Dowding believed that fairies "are essential to the growth of plants and the welfare of the vegetable kingdom".<ref>Orange 2008, p. 263.</ref>