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

. 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 ...

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