Gordon MacMillan
General Sir Gordon Holmes Alexander MacMillan of MacMillan and Knap, KCB, KCVO, CBE, DSO, MC & Two Bars (7 January 1897 – 21 January 1986) was a Scottish professional soldier who rose to become a general in the British Army. As a young officer during the First World War, he displayed outstanding bravery and was awarded a Military Cross and two Bars. At the age of 19 and while still a second lieutenant, he was appointed acting adjutant of the 2nd Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Between the World Wars, MacMillan remained in the army, occupying posts of increasing seniority. He married Marian Blakiston Houston in 1929, and they had one daughter and four sons.
Sir Gordon MacMillan
"Babe"
7 January 1897
Bangalore, Kingdom of Mysore, India
21 January 1986 (aged 89)
Renfrewshire, Scotland
United Kingdom
1915–1955
5880
Governor of Gibraltar (1952–55)
Scottish Command (1949–52)
British Forces in Palestine and Trans-Jordan (1947–48)
51st (Highland) Infantry Division (1945)
49th (West Riding) Infantry Division (1944–45)
15th (Scottish) Infantry Division (1943–44)
152nd Infantry Brigade (1943)
12th Infantry Brigade (1943)
199th Infantry Brigade (1941)
Sir John MacMillan (son)
During the Second World War, MacMillan served initially in England, putting in place defensive strategies against a possible invasion by the Germans. He was appointed Brigadier General Staff IX Corps in December 1941, remaining in this post during the Operation Torch landings in North Africa and through to the fall of Tunis in May 1943. He was given command of the 152nd Brigade in June 1943 and led it during the successful Sicily campaign. Upon return to Britain, he was assigned command of the 15th (Scottish) Division and led the formation during the Battle of Normandy, Operation Epsom and Operation Bluecoat, towards the end of which he was wounded. Once recovered, in November 1944, he returned to mainland Europe as GOC 49th (West Riding) Division near Nijmegen. Upon the death of Major-General Thomas Rennie, he assumed command of the 51st (Highland) Division immediately following the crossing of the Rhine on 23 March 1945.
After the war, MacMillan served as the army's Director of Weapons and Development. In February 1947 he was appointed GOC British Forces in Palestine and Trans-Jordan. Soon after his arrival, the British Government decided to bring to an end its Mandate in Palestine. This decision triggered an escalation of violence in the territory, leading to the withdrawal of all British forces by 30 June 1948. He then served as GOC Scottish Command (1949–52). His final army posting was as Governor and Commander-in-Chief Gibraltar (1952–55).
Gordon MacMillan was hereditary Chief of the Clan MacMillan.[1] After retirement, he remained Colonel of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders until 1958. Following his retirement, he immersed himself in Scottish life and society, being appointed chairman of several institutions. Much of his time was devoted to the upkeep of the house, gardens and woodlands at Finlaystone,[2] the family house in the West of Scotland.
Early life and First World War[edit]
Gordon Holmes Alexander MacMillan was born near Bangalore, Kingdom of Mysore, India, on 7 January 1897. His father, Dugald MacMillan,[3] was a coffee plantation owner. However, when he was three years old, his parents, both of Scottish origin, decided to return to Britain to bring up their only son.[4] At the age of ten, he joined St Edmund's School, Canterbury, from where he won a Prize Cadetship to attend a shortened course at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, in April 1915, several months after the outbreak of the Great War.[5][6]
MacMillan was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders on 11 August 1915.[7][8][9]
Due to not having reached the age of 19, he was posted to the 3rd Battalion, Argylls, a training unit, stationed near Edinburgh.[8] In April 1916 he was sent to the Western Front where he joined the 2nd Battalion (the 93rd), a Regular Army unit which was then serving as part of the 98th Brigade of the 33rd Division, in Northeast France, and immediately became involved in fierce trench warfare at Brickstacks.[10]
This was followed by engagements, as part of the battles of the Somme and Passchendaele, at Cuinchy, Bazentin-le-Petit, High Wood, Mametz Wood, Arras, Le Cateau and the Selle.[11]
While still only 19 years old and a second lieutenant, he was appointed acting adjutant of the battalion in November 1916.[12] He was promoted to lieutenant in April 1917,[13] and formally confirmed as adjutant in June.[14][9] He remained in this post for the rest of the war, serving seven different commanding officers (CO).[15] The casualties were immense and, at one time, while a second lieutenant, he found himself by default commanding the battalion.[16] MacMillan wrote "I would say that I was fortunate to belong to the best battalion in the Army, with an unbreakable spirit. You can see this from the record of their operations – and then look at the casualty list: 63 officers and 1175 men killed, and ready for anything at the end of it all".[11]
MacMillan was one of only 168 soldiers to receive the Military Cross (MC) and two Bars in the First World War.[17] His MCs were awarded for exceptional gallantry in the battles of High Wood (July 1916), Arras (April 1917) and Le Cateau (October 1918)[18][19][9][6]
Between the wars[edit]
After the war, MacMillan, having gained a Regular commission in 1915, remained in the army, continuing to serve as his battalion's adjutant until December 1920, when the battalion was stationed in Ireland during "the troubles".[20] He was promoted to captain on 28 August 1924,[9] serving periodically as a company commander before entering the Staff College, Camberley from 1928 to 1929, where among his fellow students there in his year included several future high-ranking officers, such as Alexander Galloway, Gerard Bucknall, John Harding, Richard McCreery, Philip Gregson-Ellis, William Holmes, Claude Nicholson, Charles Murison, Alexander Cameron, Gerald Templer, Thomas Wilson, I. S. O. Playfair and Leslie Beavis. His instructors included Henry Pownall, Wilfrid Lindsell, Richard O'Connor, Harold Franklyn, Bernard Paget, George Giffard and Bernard Montgomery.[21] On 10 August 1929, MacMillan married Marian Blakiston Houston; they had three children.[22] He went on to serve successively as captain, staff captain and General Staff Officer Grade 3 (GSO3) in the War Office in the early 1930s.[23][24][25][26]
Having rejoined his regiment, from August to October 1934 (with the rank of brevet major),[27] he commanded the Guard for the Royal Family at Balmoral.[28] His next appointment, in 1935, was as an instructor (GSO 2) at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario,[29][30] where he served for two years before rejoining his regiment and then returning to the War Office as a GSO 2 in the Training Branch.[31] He was promoted to major on 1 August 1938,[32] and, from 10 January 1939, served as a GSO2 to the staff of HQ Eastern Command.[33][9]