Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Robert Leith-Macgregor MC DFC (23 August 1917 – 14 November 2008) was a British Army officer and

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) and ...

pilot. He fought in the Second World War, initially as an infantry officer in the

Royal Northumberland Fusiliers The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army. Raised in 1674 as one of three 'English' units in the Dutch Anglo-Scots Brigade, it accompanied William III to England in the November 1688 Glorious Revolution an ...

, before training as a pilot and transferring to the Royal Air Force. He was shot down several times and eventually became a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

. Post-war, he returned to the army, serving again with the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, and later commanding a battalion of that regiment.

Early life and Second World War

The stepson of an admiral, Leith-Macgregor initially trained at the Nautical College, Pangbourne, but could not deal with the five hours of mathematics a day, and after three years transferred to the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town of ...

. On passing out, he was commissioned into the

as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

on 25 August 1938, and was posted to the 2nd Battalion. He served in Belgium in 1939, but became bored with serving as a soldier, and instead volunteered to be trained as an army liaison pilot, gaining an additional RAF commission as a

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...

in the

on 11 April 1940. After training on a

de Havilland Tiger Moth The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary trainer aircraft. ...

, he was taught to fly the

Westland Lysander The Westland Lysander is a British army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War. After becoming obsolete in the army co-operation role, the aircraft's ...

and posted to

No. 241 Squadron RAF No. 241 Squadron is a former squadron of the Royal Air Force (RAF) formed during the First World War. History No. 241 Squadron was formed in August 1918 from the former Royal Naval Air Service flights operating at the RNAS seaplane station a ...

. He was transferred to

No. 208 Squadron RAF No 208 (Reserve) Squadron was a reserve unit of the Royal Air Force, most recently based at RAF Valley, Anglesey, Wales. It operated the BAe Hawk aircraft, as a part of No. 4 Flying Training School. Due to obsolescence of its Hawk T.1 aircraft ...

to fly the

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

in the North African Campaign, and twice crashed. He was first shot down, but survived unharmed despite his crashed aircraft being

strafe Strafing is the military practice of attacking ground targets from low-flying aircraft using aircraft-mounted automatic weapons. Less commonly, the term is used by extension to describe high-speed firing runs by any land or naval craft such ...

d by three German fighters before he could escape. On the second occasion, his engine failed and he was forced to crash-land; it later transpired he had taxied in an active minefield without detonating anything. He had retained his army commission and was promoted

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

on 1 January 1941, and in the RAF, war substantive flying officer on 11 April 1941. In June 1942, he was attacked by four

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...

s; he destroyed one, but was himself shot down. Despite again being strafed by the remaining planes, he once again survived unscathed, and returned to his base just in time to find his flight sergeant (who had witnessed events) organising a burial detail. Leith-Macgregor was immediately awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. The citation was published in the ''

London Gazette London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

'' on 28 July 1942: He was again shot down in August over El Alamein and was trapped inside the aircraft with the ammunition exploding. Nearby German soldiers broke through the canopy with an axe and helped him escape. After an attempt to escape, he was transferred to an Italian Prisoner of War camp where he was brutally interrogated and held in a cage measuring five feet by three feet. He was transferred to a camp in Gavi and after the Italian armistice sent to

Stalag Luft III , partof = ''Luftwaffe'' , location = Sagan, Lower Silesia, Nazi Germany (now Żagań, Poland) , image = , caption = Model of the set used to film the movie ''The Great Escape.'' It depicts a smaller version of a single compound in ''Stalag ...

; he did not escape in The Great Escape but was instead transferred yet again to a naval prisoner of war camp near Hamburg, where a sergeant from the

Scots Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642, although it was only placed on the ...

cut the wire and let the prisoners escape.

Korean War and later life

On 26 August 1945, he relinquished his RAF commission to return to army duty as a lieutenant. He rejoined the Fusiliers, was promoted

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 1 July 1946, and served with the 1st Battalion in the

. While there, he was promoted temporary

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

, and given command of the battalion's Y Company. For the leadership he displayed on 3 January 1951, he was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

for placing Y Company so well on a hill that, despite an attack by a massive Chinese force, the enemy were unable to dislodge them, and the company withdrew without a single man killed.

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

Brodie, commander of 29th Independent Brigade described it as "a performance of the highest order" when countersigning the recommendation. The award was announced in the ''

'' on 10 July 1951. He received substantive promotion to major on 25 August 1951. He then commanded a company at Eaton Hall Officer Cadet School followed by a spell as second in command of a battalion of the

Nigeria Regiment The Nigeria Regiment, Royal West African Frontier Force, was formed by the amalgamation of the Northern Nigeria Regiment and the Southern Nigeria Regiment on 1 January 1914. At that time, the regiment consisted of five battalions: *1st Battalio ...

and as training officer of the 7th battalion RNF (the Territorial Army unit associated with the regiment). Promoted lieutenant colonel on 5 February 1960, he commanded the 1st battalion before, aware he had no staff training, he retired on 5 December 1962. In retirement he worked first as a

Guinness Guinness () is an Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in ove ...

representative, and later as a marketing director for Rank Hotels and the

Park Lane Hotel The Sheraton Grand London Park Lane is a 5 Star hotel on Piccadilly, London. The hotel opened in 1927 as The Park Lane Hotel to designs by architects Adie, Button and Partners, in a grand Art Deco style, and was constructed by the developer ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leith-Macgregor, Robert 1917 births 2008 deaths British Army personnel of World War II Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Recipients of the Military Cross British World War II pilots Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Royal Northumberland Fusiliers officers Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Shot-down aviators World War II prisoners of war held by Germany World War II prisoners of war held by Italy Royal West African Frontier Force officers People from Melton Mowbray British Army personnel of the Korean War British expatriates in Nigeria British expatriates in Korea