Donald William Trevor Bruce, Baron Bruce of Donington (3 October 1912 – 18 April 2005) was a British soldier, businessman and Labour politician.

Early life

Bruce was born in

Norbury Norbury is an List of areas of London, town and suburb in south London. It shares the postcode London SW16 with neighbouring Streatham. The area is mainly in the borough of Croydon London Borough Council, Croydon, with some parts extending int ...

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

, the son of insurance broker William Trevor Bruce. He was educated at Donington Grammar School in

Donington, Lincolnshire __NOTOC__ Donington is a village and civil parish in the South Holland District of Lincolnshire, England. It is north from the market town of Spalding and south of Boston on the A152, it is bypassed by the A52, and sits close to the A16 and ...

and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1936.

Military career

Bruce served in the Territorial Army from 1931 to 1935, later in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, in the

Royal Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communications an ...

, where he reached the rank of

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in 1942, serving in the anti-aircraft defence of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

before joining

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

's staff as an intelligence officer in the preparations for

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

for which he won a mention in dispatches.

Parliamentary career

From 1945 to 1950 Bruce was Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Portsmouth North. During the same time he was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

Aneurin Bevan Aneurin "Nye" Bevan Privy Council (United Kingdom), PC (; 15 November 1897 – 6 July 1960) was a Welsh Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician, noted for spearheading the creation of the British National Health Service during his t ...

, and compiled many notes and documents with the aim of writing a biography of Bevan, a task later taken up with the assistance of Bruce's papers by

Michael Foot Michael Mackintosh Foot (23 July 19133 March 2010) was a British politician who was Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition from 1980 to 1983. Foot beg ...

. When Portsmouth North was abolished in

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

, Bruce stood in the successor seat of Portsmouth West, but was narrowly beaten by the

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

Terence Clarke.

After Parliament

He also set up his own accountancy firm and ran it until 1977 when it merged with Halpern and Woolf which itself merged with Casson Beckman merging finally with

Baker Tilly Baker Tilly also known as Baker Tilly International is a international consulting and public accounting network based in London, United Kingdom. It is currently the 6th largest CPA advisory firm in the U.S. and 9th largest accounting network i ...

for whom Bruce still worked in his eighties as a consultant. On 20 January 1975, he was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

as Baron Bruce of Donington, ''of

Rickmansworth Rickmansworth () is a town in south-west Hertfordshire, England, located approximately north-west of central London, south-west of Watford and inside the perimeter of the M25 motorway. The town is mainly to the north of the Grand Union Canal ( ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

.'' In 1976, he was appointed to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

, but resigned in 1979.

Family

Lord Bruce of Donington was married twice, firstly to Joan Letitia Butcher in 1939, and after their divorce in 1980, secondly to Cyrena Heard (née Shaw) in 1981. He had four children by his first wife, one son and three daughters (two of whom predeceased him).

Bibliography

References

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce, Donald 1912 births 2005 deaths Royal Corps of Signals officers British Army personnel of World War II Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Bruce of Donington UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs who were granted peerages Labour Party (UK) MEPs MEPs for the United Kingdom 1973–1979 People from Croydon People from Donington, Lincolnshire Life peers created by Elizabeth II