Sir John William Maxwell Aitken, 2nd Baronet, (15 February 1910 – 30 April 1985), briefly 2nd Baron Beaverbrook in 1964, was a Canadian-British fighter pilot and

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

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 opposin ...

, a

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 ...

politician, and press baron. He was the son of The 1st Baron Beaverbrook.

Early life

Aitken was born on 15 February 1910 in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, the son of Gladys Henderson (Drury) and

Max Aitken William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook (25 May 1879 – 9 June 1964), generally known as Lord Beaverbrook, was a Canadian-British newspaper publisher and backstage politician who was an influential figure in British media and politics o ...

(later Lord Beaverbrook). He was the brother of

Janet Gladys Aitken Janet Gladys Aitken, later Campbell, Montagu, and Kidd, (9 July 1908 – 18 November 1988) was a Canadian-British aristocrat and socialite. The daughter of Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, she grew up at Cherkley Court in Surrey. She was the ...

. He was educated at

Sandroyd School Sandroyd School is an independent co-educational preparatory school for day and boarding pupils aged 2 to 13 in the south of Wiltshire, England. The school's main building is Rushmore House, a 19th-century country house which is surrounded by the ...

then

Downsend School Downsend School is a co-educational independent school for pupils aged between two and sixteen. In 2020, Downsend became a through-school, offering a three year GCSE. It is located in Leatherhead, Ashtead and Epsom, in Surrey, UK. It is now ...

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

and

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

.Stenton and Lees ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament'' vol. iv p. 2 A talented sportsman, he was a university blue at football and a scratch golfer. A keen flyer, he spent some time in the thirties flying throughout Europe and the USA. He joined the

Royal Auxiliary Air Force The Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF), formerly the Auxiliary Air Force (AAF), together with the Air Force Reserve, is a component of His Majesty's Reserve Air Forces (Reserve Forces Act 1996, Part 1, Para 1,(2),(c)). It provides a primary rein ...

in 1935,

Bruce Barrymore Halpenny Bruce Barrymore Halpenny (1937 – 3 May 2015) was an English people, English military historian and author, specialising in airfields and aircraft, as well as ghost stories and mysteries. He was also a Television presenter, broadcaster''Framlin ...

''Fight for the Sky'' (1986) , Page 44 and was commissioned 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 ...

on 11 September. He was promoted to flying officer on 14 April 1937.

Military service

On 15 May 1940, Aitken was promoted to

flight lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

in the Auxiliary Air Force. Aitken served as a

Bristol Blenheim The Bristol Blenheim is a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company (Bristol) which was used extensively in the first two years of the Second World War, with examples still being used as trainers until ...

and then a

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 ...

pilot with

No. 601 Squadron RAF Number 601 (County of London) Squadron is a squadron of the RAF Reserves, based in London. The squadron took part in the Battle of Britain, during which the first Americans to fly in World War II were members of the squadron. Reactivated in 2017 ...

during the early part of the

''Fight for the Sky'' (1986) , Page 40 becoming commanding officer in June 1940, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1940, and the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

, in 1942, for eight combat claims. Leaving the squadron on 20 July 1940, he then served as commanding officer of

No. 68 Squadron RAF The name No. 68 Squadron has been used for two quite different units, only one of which was strictly a unit of the Royal Air Force. "No. 68 Squadron RFC" was for a time the official British military designation for No. 2 Squadron Australian Flying ...

, a night fighter unit, from February 1941 until January 1943, claiming four night victories. Serving in the Middle East during the middle war years as

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 ...

, although he was officially non-operational, he managed to shoot down two

Junkers Ju 52 The Junkers Ju 52/3m (nicknamed ''Tante Ju'' ("Aunt Ju") and ''Iron Annie'') is a transport aircraft that was designed and manufactured by German aviation company Junkers. Development of the Ju 52 commenced during 1930, headed by German Aeros ...

aircraft while flying with

No. 46 Squadron RAF No. 46 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Air Force, formed in 1916, was disbanded and re-formed three times before its last disbandment in 1975. It served in both World War I and World War II. World War I No. 46 Squadron was ...

Beaufighter The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter (often called the Beau) is a British multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufort ...

s. Aitken became

wing leader Wing leader, or wing commander (flying), denotes the tactical commander of a Commonwealth military wing on flying operations. The terms refer to a position, not a rank, although the role was usually taken by an officer ranked wing commander. The p ...

of the Banff Strike Wing (

RAF Coastal Command RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal Commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...

) in 1944. He reached the rank of

group captain Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...

, achieving 16 1/2 kills (one a shared aircraft). He did some of his early flying training with

Richard Hillary Flight Lieutenant Richard Hope Hillary (20 April 1919 – 8 January 1943) was an Anglo-Australian Royal Air Force fighter pilot during the Second World War. He wrote the book '' The Last Enemy'' about his experiences during the Battle of Brit ...

, to whom he was known as Bill, and was featured in Hillary's book '' The Last Enemy''.

Post-war career

In 1946, he entered the family newspaper business, as a director of the

Express Group Indian Express Limited is an Indian news media publishing company. It publishes several widely circulated dailies, including ''The Indian Express'' and '' The Financial Express'' in English, the ''Loksatta'' in Marathi and the '' Jansatta'' in ...

, and would become Chairman of

Beaverbrook Newspapers The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

Ltd. At the 1945 general election, Aitken was elected

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 ...

for

Holborn Holborn ( or ) is a district in central London, which covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part ( St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London. The area has its roots ...

with a majority of 925. Unfavourable boundary changes meant that the Labour Party took the successor seat in 1950 comfortably and Aitken did not stand at that or subsequent elections. He also served as

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universities in North Americ ...

. He appears in the famous World War II documentary ''

The World at War ''The World at War'' is a 26-episode British documentary television series that chronicles the events of the Second World War. It was produced in 1973, at a cost of £900,000 (), the most expensive factual series ever produced. It was produ ...

'' giving a variety of interviews, including the episode "Alone in Britain."

Offshore powerboat racing

In the late 1950s, Aitken witnessed one of the early Miami Nassau Offshore Powerboat Races, then participated in the following year with his wife, Lady Violet. It was the experience of this new "sport" that led to his announcement at the 1961 London Boat Show of a similar ocean race to be staged in the south of England in August that year. Together with John Coote they formulated the rules that saw the birth of the Cowes Torquay Offshore Powerboat Race, with the aim of improving the breed of sea-going fast cruisers and safety at sea. The Cowes Torquay will celebrate in 2010 the 50th year since Aitken founded it.

London International Boat Show

Aitken, with the sponsorship of his newspaper the ''Daily Express'', helped to found the London International Boat Show in 1954 at the Empire Hall, Olympia.

Family life

Aitken married three times: * 1) Cynthia Monteith, daughter of Colonel H. G. Monteith DSO OBE (1939–1944) (divorced) * 2) Jane Kenyon-Slaney, daughter of Captain Robert Kenyon-Slaney by his wife, Lady Mary Gilmour (1946–1950) (divorced); two daughters (Kirsty and Lynda). Their daughter Kirsty is a close friend of the Queen Consort. * 3) Violet de Trafford, daughter of Sir Humphrey de Trafford (1951–30 April 1985); a son and a daughter (Maxwell and Laura) He succeeded his father as

Baron Beaverbrook Baron Beaverbrook, of Beaverbrook in the Province of New Brunswick in the Dominion of Canada and of Cherkley in the County of Surrey, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1917 for the prominent media owner and polit ...

on the latter's death on 9 June 1964, but disclaimed the title three days later on 12 June, stating that "there shall only be one Lord Beaverbrook in my lifetime". On his death in 1985, his son, also

, took on the title.

References

Bibliography

* Stenton, M., Lees, S. (1981). ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament'', volume iv (covering 1945–1979). Sussex: The Harvester Press; New Jersey: Humanities Press.

External links

Max Aitken at acesofww2.comThe Sir Max Aitken Museum
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aitken, Max British newspaper publishers (people) Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1945–1950 Beaverbrook, B2 Aitken family 2 Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom People educated at Downsend School People educated at Westminster School, London People educated at Sandroyd School Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Royal Air Force group captains Royal Air Force pilots of World War II British World War II flying aces British Presbyterians Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) 1910 births 1985 deaths Beaverbrook, Max Aitken, 2nd Baron The Few Canadian emigrants to the United Kingdom Canadian people of Scottish descent English people of Scottish descent