Ian McDonald (29 March 1936 – 28 March 2019) was a civil servant in the UK's

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

and was the Ministry's spokesman during the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...

Life and career

Grave of Ian McDonald in Highgate Cemetery

McDonald was born on 29 March 1936, in

Langside Langside is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated south of the River Clyde, and lies east of Shawlands, south of Queens Park, west of Cathcart and north of Newlands. The district is residential and primarily middle-class, ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. With his brother, he attended Glasgow High School. He went on to study law at

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

and began postgraduate studies in Greek and Italian at the same university. Soon thereafter McDonald was conscripted into the army as a translator in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

, however he had studied

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

rather than the

modern Greek Modern Greek (, , or , ''Kiní Neoellinikí Glóssa''), generally referred to by speakers simply as Greek (, ), refers collectively to the dialects of the Greek language spoken in the modern era, including the official standardized form of the ...

which was required for his posting. McDonald was discharged from the army and joined a law firm in Glasgow. He later moved to

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

, Pakistan, to work as a teacher for a year. Upon his return to the UK, McDonald was appointed to a junior position in the Ministry of Defence. He was promoted through the ranks until spring 1982, during the

, when he came into prominence as the spokesman for the ministry. Speaking at

dictation Dictation can refer to: *Dictation (exercise), when one person speaks while another person transcribes *'' Dictation: A Quartet'', a collection of short stories by Cynthia Ozick, published in 2008 *Digital dictation, the use of digital electronic m ...

speed in a monotone voice that British viewers found authentic and reassuring, McDonald gave regular briefings on the events of the war using a teacher's pointer and maps of the islands. As the British forces recaptured the islands, "McDonald became renowned for his restrained, and at times emotionless, style of delivery." However, he frustrated reporters with his mysterious answers to questions, often quoting

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

in lieu of a response. In one instance he said "

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

, Act One, Scene Two, Line 215" which reads "But answer made it none". On

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

's documentary ''When Britain Went To War'' (2002), McDonald revealed that he became the subject of amorous attention from TV viewers, including a woman who stalked him for two years and sent him emotive letters. In 1986, McDonald was made head of the Defence Exports Services Secretariat. He was in charge of the department during the

Arms-to-Iraq The Arms-to-Iraq affair concerned the uncovering of the government-endorsed sale of arms by British companies to Iraq, then under the rule of Saddam Hussein. The scandal contributed to the growing dissatisfaction with the Conservative government o ...

affair and his name was included in the 1996

Scott Report The Scott Report (the ''Report of the Inquiry into the Export of Defence Equipment and Dual-Use Goods to Iraq and Related Prosecutions'') was a judicial inquiry commissioned in 1992 after reports surfaced of previously restricted arms sales to ...

, in which Richard Scott criticised McDonald for his "inattention … consistent with his general approach to

line management Line management refers to the management of employees who are directly involved in the production or delivery of products, goods and/or services. As the interface between an organisation and its front-line workforce, line management represents the ...

". McDonald, who never married nor had children, spent his later years at a villa in

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, Italy. He died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

on 28 March 2019, the day before he would have turned 83 years old. His ashes are buried on the eastern side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

. The headstone incorrectly states the year of his death as 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Ian 1936 births 2019 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies Alumni of the University of Glasgow British Army soldiers British expatriates in Italy British expatriates in Pakistan British people of the Falklands War Civil servants in the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) People from Langside Political spokespersons