Wing Commander
Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...
Lord Malcolm Avondale Douglas-Hamilton, (12 November 1909 – 21 July 1964) was a Scottish aristocrat, aviator and politician.
Marriage and family
Douglas-Hamilton was third son of
Alfred Douglas-Hamilton, 13th Duke of Hamilton
Lieutenant Alfred Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 13th Duke of Hamilton and 10th Duke of Brandon TD, DL (6 March 1862 – 16 March 1940) was a Scottish nobleman and sailor.
Early life
Hamilton was born at Shanklin, Isle of Wight, in 1862, the son ...
, and
Nina Mary Benita Poore. He was educated at
Eton College
Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...
and at the
RAF College Cranwell
The Royal Air Force College (RAFC) is the Royal Air Force military academy which provides initial training to all RAF personnel who are preparing to become commissioned officers. The College also provides initial training to aircrew cadets and ...
.
Douglas-Hamilton married twice: firstly in 1931 to
Pamela Bowes-Lyon
Pamela may refer to:
*''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'', a novel written by Samuel Richardson in 1740
*Pamela (name), a given name and, rarely, a surname
*Pamela Spence, a Turkish pop-rock singer. Known as her stage name "Pamela"
* MSC ''Pamela'', ...
, a granddaughter of the
13th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne and cousin to
Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...
. They had four children. Their elder son, Alasdair, wrote a biography of his father, ''Lord of the Skies''. Following their divorce, Douglas-Hamilton married in 1953
Natalie Scarritt Paine née Wales (1909-2013), an American who had organised the ''Bundles for Britain'' campaign during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, for which she was awarded the
CBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
.
After his second marriage, Douglas-Hamilton emigrated to the United States, where he became extremely active in fostering relations between Scotland and Americans of Scottish descent. He considered the United States to be his adopted country. He founded, along with Lady Malcolm, the
American Scottish Foundation
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
,
which after the Saint Andrews Society is the oldest American organization devoted to US/Scottish relations in existence. The organization was responsible for establishment of Scotland House, and the Scottish Ball, an annual charitable dinner devoted to raising money to support the American Scottish cause.
Career in aviation
Douglas-Hamilton served with the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
(RAF) from 1929 to 1932, then worked in civil aviation until the outbreak of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
.
Recently disclosed documents from
MI5
The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), G ...
show, that, on 1 August 1936, Douglas-Hamilton flew a
de Havilland plane to Spain, that he delivered to pro-
Franco
Franco may refer to:
Name
* Franco (name)
* Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975
* Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître"
Prefix
* Franco, a prefix used when ref ...
nationalists. Another plane was flown the next day by
Dick Seaman
Richard John Beattie Seaman (4 February 1913 – 25 June 1939) was a British Grand Prix racing driver. He drove for the Mercedes-Benz team from 1937 to 1939 in the Mercedes-Benz W125 and W154 cars, winning the 1938 German Grand Prix. He died o ...
. Only two weeks earlier,
General Franco
Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 193 ...
was flown in a de Havilland from the
Canary Islands to
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
and onwards to
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, helped by two other Britons,
Hugh Pollard and
Cecil Bebb.
During the Second World War Douglas-Hamilton again served with the RAF, becoming commander of
RAF Winkleigh on 29 March 1944. He was appointed an
Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1943 and awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross in 1944. He was
Air Training Corps
The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British volunteer-military youth organisation. They are sponsored by the Ministry of Defence and the Royal Air Force. The majority of staff are volunteers, and some are paid for full-time work – including C ...
Commandant for Scotland from 1945 to 1946. His elder brother, the
Marquess of Douglas and Clydesdale, later 14th Duke of Hamilton and 11th Duke of Brandon, had also been active in the RAF and ATC.
Douglas-Hamilton continued his love of flying, starting his own charter flying company in the early 1960s, and with his son Niall traversed remote parts of the globe. It was on one such trip through
Cameroon
Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
in 1964 that Douglas-Hamilton, aged 54, went missing with his son Niall and a passenger, in the heavy equatorial mountainous jungle of Cameroon. Following an exhaustive manhunt by Douglas-Hamilton's family, including assistance from the Rockefeller company United Fruit, his remains were located in the jungle. Neither Niall Douglas-Hamilton nor the passenger were ever located.
Positions held
Douglas-Hamilton was the
Unionist Member of Parliament for
Inverness
Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...
from 1950 to 1954.
Douglas-Hamilton held a number of appointments, including as a Governor of
Gordonstoun School
Gordonstoun School is a co-educational independent school for boarding and day pupils in Moray, Scotland. It is named after the estate owned by Sir Robert Gordon in the 17th century; the school now uses this estate as its campus. It is located ...
and as a member of the
Royal Company of Archers
The Royal Company of Archers, The King's Bodyguard for Scotland is a ceremonial unit that serves as the Sovereign's bodyguard in Scotland—a role it has performed since 1822 during the reign of King George IV when the company provided a perso ...
.
See also
*
George Nigel Douglas-Hamilton, 10th Earl of Selkirk
Group Captain George Nigel "Geordie" Douglas-Hamilton, 10th Earl of Selkirk, (4 January 1906 – 24 November 1994) was a British nobleman and Conservative politician.
Early life
Born at Merly, Wimborne, Dorset, he was the second son of Nina ...
*
Lord David Douglas-Hamilton
Squadron Leader Lord David Douglas-Hamilton (8 November 1912 – 2 August 1944) was a Scottish nobleman, pilot, and boxer.
He was the youngest son of Lt. Alfred Douglas-Hamilton, 13th Duke of Hamilton RN and his wife Nina, née Poore.
...
*
Duke of Hamilton
Duke of Hamilton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in April 1643. It is the senior dukedom in that peerage (except for the Dukedom of Rothesay held by the Sovereign's eldest son), and as such its holder is the premier peer of Sco ...
Notes
References
Sources
*
Charles Mosley, ed.,
Burke's Peerage and Baronetage
Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher founded in 1826, when the Irish genealogist John Burke began releasing books devoted to the ancestry and heraldry of the peerage, baronetage, knightage and landed gentry of Great Bri ...
, 106th edition, 2 vols. (Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999), volume 1, page 1286
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas-Hamilton, Lord Malcolm
1909 births
1964 deaths
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Highland constituencies
Unionist Party (Scotland) MPs
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)
Scottish airmen
Scottish aviators
Younger sons of dukes
Royal Air Force officers
People educated at Eton College
Graduates of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell
British World War II pilots
UK MPs 1950–1951
UK MPs 1951–1955
24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
Members of the Royal Company of Archers
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Cameroon
Malcom