Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Sir Fitzroy Hew Royle Maclean, 1st Baronet, (11 March 1911 – 15 June 1996) was a Scottish soldier, writer and politician. He was a Unionist Member of Parliament (MP) from 1941 to 1974 and was one of only two men who 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 opposin ...

enlisted in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

as a private and rose to the rank of

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 ...

, the other being future fellow Conservative MP

Enoch Powell John Enoch Powell, (16 June 1912 – 8 February 1998) was a British politician, classical scholar, author, linguist, soldier, philologist, and poet. He served as a Conservative Member of Parliament (1950–1974) and was Minister of Health (1 ...

. Maclean wrote several books, including ''

Eastern Approaches ''Eastern Approaches'' (1949) is a memoir of the early career of Fitzroy Maclean. It is divided into three parts: his life as a junior diplomat in Moscow and his travels in the Soviet Union, especially the forbidden zones of Central Asia; his e ...

'', in which he recounted three extraordinary series of adventures: travelling, often incognito, in Soviet

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

; fighting in the Western Desert campaign, where he specialised in

commando Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...

raids behind enemy lines; and living rough with

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...

and his

Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод ...

while commanding the

Maclean Mission The Maclean Mission (MACMIS) was a World War II British mission to Yugoslav partisans HQ and Marshall Tito organised by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in September 1943. Its aim was to assess the value of the partisans contribution to t ...

there. It has been widely speculated that

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., a ...

used Maclean as one of his

inspirations for James Bond A number of real-life inspirations have been suggested for James Bond (literary character), James Bond, the fictional character created in 1953 by British author, journalist and British Naval Intelligence, Naval Intelligence officer Ian Fleming (1 ...

Early life

Maclean was born in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

to Major Charles Wilberforce Maclean QOCH (1875–1953), a member of the Scottish landed gentry serving in Egypt with the

Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders or 79th (The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders) Regiment of Foot was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1793. It amalgamated with the Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Al ...

, and Frances Elaine Gladys Royle (12 June 1882 – 1954), the only daughter of George Royle, a Royal Navy officer, and Fannie Jane Longueville Snow. The couple wed on 12 July 1905 at St George's Parish, Hanover Square, Middlesex, London.

Heritage and education

He was descended from the Macleans of Ardgour, a

Sept A sept is a division of a family, especially of a Scottish or Irish family. The term is used in both Scotland and Ireland, where it may be translated as ''sliocht'', meaning "progeny" or "seed", which may indicate the descendants of a person ( ...

of the Clan Maclean, whose chiefs have as their historic seat

Duart Castle Duart Castle, or ''Caisteal Dhubhairt'' in Scottish Gaelic, is a castle on the Isle of Mull, beside the Sound of Mull off the west coast of Scotland, within the council area of Argyll and Bute. The castle dates back to the 13th century and is ...

on the

Isle of Mull The Isle of Mull ( gd, An t-Eilean Muileach ) or just Mull (; gd, Muile, links=no ) is the second-largest island of the Inner Hebrides (after Skye) and lies off the west coast of Scotland in the Council areas of Scotland, council area of Arg ...

in the Inner Hebrides. He was brought up in Italy and educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

and King's College,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, where he read Classics and History. He then studied in Germany before joining the Diplomatic Service in 1933.

In the Soviet Union

In 1934 Fitzroy Maclean was posted to the British Embassy in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. Bored with the pleasant but undemanding routine, he requested a posting to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

in 1937. The two and a half years he spent in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

formed the first third of his best known book, the autobiographical ''

''. Maclean was in Moscow until late 1939, and was present during the great Stalinist purges, observing the fates of

Bukharin Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin (russian: Никола́й Ива́нович Буха́рин) ( – 15 March 1938) was a Bolshevik revolutionary, Soviet politician, Marxist philosopher and economist and prolific author on revolutionary theory. ...

and other Russian revolutionaries. Although he was stationed in the capital, Maclean travelled extensively, primarily by train, into remote regions of the USSR which were off limits to foreigners, and was shadowed by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

as he did so.

World War II

When war broke out in 1939 Maclean was prevented from joining the military because of his position as a diplomat. He was 2nd Secretary in the Foreign Office. Therefore, he resigned from the Diplomatic Service "to go into politics". After tendering his resignation he immediately took a taxi to the nearest recruiting office and enlisted as a Private in the

. He was soon promoted to

lance corporal Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organisations. It is below the rank of corporal, and is typically the lowest non-commissioned officer (NCO), usually equi ...

and was commissioned in 1941. In that year he became the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

MP for Lancaster. In

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

in 1942, he distinguished himself in the early actions of the newly formed

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terro ...

(SAS), where, with Ralph A. Bagnold, he developed ways of driving vehicles over the

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

n sand "seas". Maclean was a brilliant practitioner in the

T. E. Lawrence Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918 ...

brand of fighting, and he reported directly to

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

. A letter of introduction from

David Stirling Sir Archibald David Stirling (15 November 1915 – 4 November 1990) was a Scottish officer in the British army, a mountaineer, and the founder and creator of the Special Air Service (SAS). He saw active service during the Second World War. ...

said of him at the end of this period: "He has done well on our raids. Don't be taken in by his rather pompous manner or his slow way of speaking - he is OK."

Persia and Iraq

Later that year he transferred to the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

as part of the

Persia and Iraq Command The Persia and Iraq Command was a command of the British Army established during the Second World War in September 1942 in Baghdad. Its primary role was to secure from land and air attack the oilfields and oil installations in Persia (officially ...

. He was "allotted a platoon of Seaforth Highlanders and instructed to kidnap" General

Fazlollah Zahedi Fazlollah Zahedi ( fa, فضل‌الله زاهدی, Fazlollāh Zāhedi, pronounced ; 17 May 1892 – 2 September 1963) was an Iranian lieutenant general and statesman who replaced the Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh through a coup d'é ...

, the commander of the Persian forces in the

Isfahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...

area. Maclean captured him and smuggled him out by plane to internment in Palestine. This incident soon led

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...

's government to withdraw support from its network in Persia.

Yugoslavia

Churchill chose him to lead a liaison mission (Macmis) to central

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

in 1943.

and his Partisans were emerging as a major obstacle to German control of the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

. Little was known at the time about Tito: some suspected this was an acronym for a committee or that he might in fact be a young woman. Maclean got to know Tito well, and later produced two biographies of him. Maclean's relationship with Tito's Partisans was not always easy, partly because they were

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

, while he came from an

upper class Upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of people who hold the highest social status, usually are the wealthiest members of class society, and wield the greatest political power. According to this view, the upper class is gen ...

Scottish background, and had witnessed

Stalinism Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory ...

in action (see above). As Churchill personally told him, Maclean's mission was not to concern himself with how Yugoslavia was to be run after the war, but "simply to find out who was killing the most Germans and suggest means by which we could help them to kill more." In the late summer of 1944, together with Tito, he planned and implemented Operation Ratweek. It was a major Allied bombing campaign in collaboration with the local Partisan troops in order to prevent German troops retreating back and reinforcing those in central and western Europe, thus prolonging the war. His biography of Tito reveals the admiration he held for the Yugoslav leader and the Yugoslav Communist-led anti-fascist struggle. He developed a great affection for Yugoslavia and its people and was later given permission to buy a house on the

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

n island of Korčula, Croatia. Having been appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire 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 ...

(CBE) in 1944, he received the

Order of Kutuzov The Order of Kutuzov (russian: орден Кутузова ''orden Kutuzova'') is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named after famous Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov (1745–1813). The Order was established du ...

(

) (which impressed the Soviet troops in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

), and after the war the

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

(

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

), and Order of the Partisan Star (

). He reached the rank of

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 ...

during the war, and was promoted to the local rank of

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

on 16 June 1947.

Later life

Maclean was elected as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for Lancaster in the 1941 by-election. He was re-elected from Lancaster in 1945, 1950, 1951, and 1955. He served briefly as a junior minister at the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

from 1954 to 1957.

Harold Macmillan Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986) was a British Conservative statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Caricatured as "Supermac", he ...

regretted losing him, "but he is really so hopeless in the House that he is a passenger in office ... a great pity, since he is so able." OMH Foundation Stone

On 9 July 1949, Maclean laid the foundation stone of the Overton & District Memorial Hall in his Lancaster constituency. He had been President of the committee that had raised the money to purchase the land and build it. In the 1959 general election he switched constituencies to Bute and North Ayrshire, where he was elected as a Unionist. He was re-elected as a Unionist in 1964, and as a Conservative in 1966 and 1970. He retired at the February 1974 general election. In his last two years, he was appointed as a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...

and

Western European Union The Western European Union (WEU; french: Union de l'Europe occidentale, UEO; german: Westeuropäische Union, WEU) was the international organisation and military alliance that succeeded the Western Union (WU) after the 1954 amendment of the 1948 ...

. Maclean was Executive Chair (1959-1970) and later President (1977-1987) of the GB-USSR Association. The Association, funded by the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

CO was a semi-official organization for cultural relations with the Soviet Union.

Marriage

He married Veronica Nell Fraser-Phipps (1920–2005), a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, in 1946. She was the daughter of the 16th Lord Lovat and widow of naval hero Lt. Alan Phipps, who was killed ashore at Leros in 1943. Sir Fitzroy and Lady Maclean had two sons: Charles Edward (born 1946) and Alexander James Simon Aeneas ("Jamie"; born 1949), who were brought up in their mother's faith. Charles is an author, well known for dark thrillers, including the cult classic ''The Watcher''. Jamie became an art dealer and founded the ''

Erotic Review ''Erotic Review'' is a monthly UK-based lifestyle publication. Covering eroticism and sex-related topics, it was first published in 1995 as a print magazine, migrating to an eZine format in June 2010. In addition to the monthly magazine, avail ...

''. Maclean was also stepfather to his wife's children from her first marriage, Susan Rose "Sukie" Phipps (born 1941) and Jeremy Julian Phipps (born 1942), who were not brought up Catholic. Sukie married Richard St. Clair de la Mare, grandson of poet

Walter de la Mare Walter John de la Mare (; 25 April 1873 – 22 June 1956) was an English poet, short story writer, and novelist. He is probably best remembered for his works for children, for his poem "The Listeners", and for a highly acclaimed selection of ...

in 1959, then writer

Derek Marlowe Derek William Mario Marlowe (21 May 1938 – 14 November 1996) was an English playwright, novelist, screenwriter and painter. Life Derek Marlowe was born in Perivale, Middlesex, and lived there and in Greenford as a child. His father was Fre ...

in 1968, and finally Captain Nicolas Paravicini in 1986. She had five children, and is stepmother to

autistic savant Savant syndrome () is a rare condition in which someone with significant mental disabilities demonstrates certain abilities far in excess of average. The skills that savants excel at are generally related to memory. This may include rapid calcu ...

Derek Paravicini Derek Paravicini (born 26 July 1979) is an English autistic savant known as a musical prodigy. He resides in London. Biography On 26 July 1979, Paravicini was born at Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, He was born extremely prematurely, at ...

. Jeremy became a Major General in the Army, having served in the SAS.

Honours

Sir Fitzroy was honoured with the

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

cy of Maclean of

Strachur Strachur; ( gd, Srath Chura) and Strathlachlan; ( gd, Srath Lachlainn) are united parishes located on the Cowal peninsula, in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. Strachur is a small village on the eastern coast of Loch Fyne. Geography Cowal is the l ...

and Glensluain in 1957, was made the 15th Hereditary Keeper and Captain of Dunconnel Castle in 1981 and was made a knight of the

Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an Chivalric order, order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the Order was founded in 1687 by James II of England, King James VII of Scotland, who asserted that h ...

in 1994. In retirement Maclean wrote extensively. His wide range of subjects included:

Scottish history The recorded begins with the arrival of the Roman Empire in the 1st century, when the province of Britannia reached as far north as the Antonine Wall. North of this was Caledonia, inhabited by the ''Picti'', whose uprisings forced Rome ...

, biographies (including

Tito Tito may refer to: People Mononyms * Josip Broz Tito (1892–1980), commonly known mononymously as Tito, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman * Roberto Arias (1918–1989), aka Tito, Panamanian international lawyer, diplomat, and journ ...

and

Burgess __NOTOC__ Burgess may refer to: People and fictional characters * Burgess (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Burgess (given name), a list of people Places * Burgess, Michigan, an unincorporated community * Burgess, Missouri, U ...

), a Russian trilogy and assorted works of fiction. He also contributed to other books, for example writing the foreword to a 1984 biography of

Joseph Wolff Joseph Wolff (1795 – 2 May 1862) was a Jewish Christian missionary born in Weilersbach, near Bamberg, Germany, named Wolff after his paternal grandfather. He travelled widely, and was known as "the missionary to the world". He published sev ...

, the so-called "Eccentric Missionary" in whose footsteps he had travelled to

Bukhara Bukhara (Uzbek language, Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara ...

almost half a century before. Maclean and his wife managed a hotel at

. In 1964 he commissioned his wartime friend, fellow commando and yacht designer Alfred Mylne II, to build the motor yacht ''Judi of Bute'' for use around the West Coast of Scotland. Maclean was a patron of

Strachur and District Shinty Club Strachur and District Shinty Club is a Shinty team from Strachur, Argyll, Scotland. The club re-entered league shinty in 2017 after a year at abeyance at senior level as of March 2016. The side was put back into abeyance in 2018 before returning ...

. He collected an extensive library, including a full set of early editions of

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

novels, which sold in September 2008 for £26,000. In the late 1960s, Maclean bought the Palazzo Boschi villa on the

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...

island of Korčula (present-day Croatia), where he spent a good part of each year. Yugoslav legislation at the time barred foreigners from buying real-estate property, but Tito intervened to allow Maclean to do so. The town of Korčula was declared a free city, and the Macleans were declared its citizens. As soon as the purchase was registered with city authorities, the free city status was revoked. In 1991, during the

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yugosl ...

, Maclean and his wife delivered medical supplies to the island of Korčula, with a substantial contribution from the people of

Rothesay Rothesay ( ; gd, Baile Bhòid ) is the principal town on the Isle of Bute, in the council area of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies along the coast of the Firth of Clyde. It can be reached by ferry from Wemyss Bay, which offers an onward rail ...

and Bute.

Death

Sir Fitzroy Maclean died on 15 June 1996, aged 85, in Hertford, Hertfordshire, England.

Legacy

Maclean was posthumously awarded the Order of Prince Branimir for the humanitarian aid to Croatia, as well as contributing to international affirmation of Croatia. The decoration was presented by the

Croatian President The president of Croatia, officially the President of the Republic of Croatia ( hr, Predsjednik Republike Hrvatske), is the head of state, commander-in-chief of the military and chief representative of the Republic of Croatia both within the ...

Stjepan Mesić Stjepan "Stipe" Mesić (; born 24 December 1934) is a Croatian lawyer and politician who served as President of Croatia from 2000 to 2010. Before serving two five-year terms as president, he was prime minister of SR Croatia (1990) after the fir ...

in December 2001. Maclean may have been one of the models for Ian Fleming's character

Styles and honours

* Fitzroy Maclean, Esq (1911–41) * Fitzroy Maclean, Esq (1941–44) MP * Fitzroy Maclean, Esq,

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 ...

, MP (1944–57) * Sir Fitzroy Maclean of Strachur and Glensluian, Bt, CBE, MP (1957–74) * Sir Fitzroy Maclean of Strachur and Glensluian, Bt, CBE (1974–81) * Sir Fitzroy Maclean of Dunconnel, Bt, CBE (1981–94) * Sir Fitzroy Maclean of Dunconnel, Bt, KT, CBE (1994–96)

Posts held

for Lancaster (1941–59) * Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for War (1954–1957) * Member of Parliament for Bute and Northern Ayrshire (1959–74) * President, GB-USSR Association (1977-1987)

Bibliography

* ''

'', 1949 * Also published as ''Disputed Barricade: the life and times of Josip Broz-Tito, Marshal of Yugoslavia'', 1957 * ''A Person from England and Other Travellers'', 1958 * ''Back to Bokhara'', 1959 * ''Yugoslavia'', 1969 * ''Concise History of Scotland'', 1970 * ''The Battle of Neretva'', 1970 * ''The Back of Beyond: an illustrated companion to Central Asia and Mongolia'', 1974 * ''To Causasus'', 1976 * ''Holy Russia'', 1978 * ''Take Nine Spies'', 1978 * ''Tito'', 1980 * ''Josip Broz Tito: A Pictorial Biography'', 1980 * ''The Isles of the Sea'', 1985 * ''Portrait of the Soviet Union'', 1988 * ''Bonnie Prince Charlie'', 1988 * ''All the Russias'', 1992 * ''Highlanders: A History of the Scottish Clans'', 1995

Biographies

* Maclean, Veronica (2002) ''Past Forgetting: a memoir of heroes, adventure, love and life with Fitzroy Maclean''. London: Review . * McLynn, Frank (1992) ''Fitzroy Maclean''. London: John Murray .

References

External links

*
Sir Fitzroy, the original James Bond, is dead

Scots adventurer was never a spy, reveals widow

Information on the latter part of his life, including running the Highland hotel.
''Times'' obituary of Veronica Lady Maclean
"Well-connected writer, traveller, restaurateur and devotee of the Scottish Highlands and Yugoslavia." On their marriage.

Allan Massie reviews ''Past Forgetting'' by Veronica Maclean.
A Guide to the Papers of Sir Fitzroy Maclean, 1827-1996
Maclean's family and personal papers are held at the

Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library The Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia is a research library that specializes in American history and literature, history of Virginia and the southeastern United States, the history of the Universit ...

of the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maclean, Fitzroy 1911 births 1996 deaths Scottish diplomats British Army brigadiers of World War II Historians of World War II Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders officers Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders soldiers Special Air Service officers British Army generals Knights of the Thistle Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Recipients of the Order of Kutuzov 20th-century Scottish writers Writers about the Soviet Union Alumni of King's College, Cambridge

Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People As a given name *Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: **FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...

People educated at Eton College Unionist Party (Scotland) MPs Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 Scottish Conservative Party MPs Scottish generals 20th-century Scottish historians Ministers in the Eden government, 1955–1957