Douglas McConnel
Born9 June 1893
Derbyshire, England
Died7 February 1961 (aged 67)
Buried
Colmonell, Ayrshire, Scotland
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service1912–1947
RankMajor-General
Service number8040
UnitRoyal Artillery
Commands heldBritish Forces in Palestine and Trans-Jordan
Lowland District
Battles/warsWorld War I
Arab revolt in Palestine
World War II
AwardsCompanion of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Distinguished Service Order
Mentioned in dispatches (3)

Major-General Douglas Fitzgerald McConnel CB CBE DSO (9 June 1893 – 7 February 1961) was a senior British Army officer who served as General Officer Commanding (GOC) British Troops in Palestine and Trans-Jordan.

Military career

Born the son of William Holdsworth McConnel, a Royal Navy officer,[1] and Florence Emma (née Bannister). He was born with a twin brother, George Malcolm, who died in 1908. Douglas was educated at Winchester College and then entered the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He played in the Association Football XI in 1910-11 and the Lord's XI in 1911.[2][3]

After passing out from Woolwich, McConnel was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Royal Artillery on 20 December 1912, alongside future generals Ivor Thomas, William Mirrlees, William Morgan, all fellow artillerymen, and Christopher Woolner of the Royal Engineers.[4][5] He served in World War I, in France and Palestine, during which he was mentioned in dispatches three times, awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in 1917, and, promoted on 22 May 1915 to lieutenant[6] and captain on 20 December 1916,[7] McConnel ended the war in 1918 as a major.[3]

After the war he became a staff captain at the School of Artillery in 1920, the same year in which he married.[5][3] After attending the Staff College, Camberley from 1925 to 1926, he served as a brigade major with the Quetta Infantry Brigade from 1927 to 1931.[3] He then went on to be Officer Commanding the Gentlemen Cadets at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, a General Staff Officer at the Royal Army Service Corps Training Centre in 1933 and a General Staff Officer at the Staff College in 1936.[5][8]

He served in World War II, initially as a GSO in Mandatory Palestine during the final stages of the Arab revolt, and Trans-Jordan and then from 1941 as General Officer Commanding (GOC) of British Troops in Palestine and Trans-Jordan.[5] He was promoted to the acting rank of brigadier on 22 February 1940[8] and July he was mentioned in despatches[9] He was further promoted, this time to the acting rank of major-general on 16 October 1941,[10] and temporary major-general on 16 October 1942.[11] After the War he became District Officer Commanding (DOC) Lowland District in Scotland and aide-de-camp general to King George VI. He retired from the army in 1947.[5][3][8]

McConnel lived at Knockdolian near Gillemichael in Ayrshire.[12] He served as a deputy lieutenant for Ayrshire in 1953.[3]

Family

He married Ruth Mary Garnett-Botfield, daughter of Major Walter Dutton Garnett-Botfield and Susan Katherine (née McConnel). They had one daughter, Diana, who became the Duchess of Wellington.[13][3]

References

  1. ↑ "McCONNEL, Major-General Douglas Fitzgerald". Who Was Who. A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2014; online edn, Oxford University Press, online edition. April 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  2. ↑ "Maj.-Gen. D. F. McConnel". The Times. 10 February 1961. p. 17.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Smart 2005, p. 199.
  4. ↑ "No. 28683". The London Gazette. 21 January 1913. p. 497.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "McConnel, Douglas Fitzgerald". Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  6. ↑ "No. 29226". The London Gazette. 9 July 1915. p. 6798.
  7. ↑ "No. 29904". The London Gazette. 16 January 1917. p. 604.
  8. 1 2 3 "Biography of Major-General Douglas Fitzgerald McConnel (1893−1961), Great Britain". generals.dk.
  9. ↑ "No. 34904". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 July 1940. p. 4580.
  10. ↑ "No. 35348". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 November 1941. p. 6621.
  11. ↑ "No. 35749". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 October 1942. p. 4537.
  12. ↑ Cokayne, G.E. (2000). The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Volume XII/2. Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing. p. 462.
  13. ↑ "The Duchess of Wellington". The Telegraph. London. 18 November 2010. Retrieved 23 August 2014.

Bibliography

  • Smart, Nick (2005). Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War. Barnesley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 1844150496.
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