Lord David Douglas-Hamilton
Medal record | ||
---|---|---|
Men's Boxing | ||
Representing Scotland | ||
British Empire Games | ||
1934 London | Heavyweight |
Squadron Leader Lord David Douglas-Hamilton (8 November 1912 – 2 August 1944) was a Scottish nobleman, pilot, and amateur boxer. At the 1934 Empire Games, he won the bronze medal in the heavyweight class of the boxing tournament.[1]
Biography
[edit]Lord David was born at Dungavel House, Lanarkshire, the youngest son of Lt. Alfred Douglas-Hamilton, 13th Duke of Hamilton RN and his wife Nina, née Poore. He commanded No. 603 Squadron RAF from 18 December 1941 until 20 July 1942. He and his brothers – Air Commodore Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton, Group Captain George Douglas-Hamilton, 10th Earl of Selkirk, and Wing Commander Lord Malcolm Douglas-Hamilton – made history as the only four brothers simultaneously being at the rank of squadron leader or above at the outset of World War II
Educated at Harrow, and Balliol College, Oxford. Douglas-Hamilton saw active service between 1939 and 1944, flying Spitfires in Operation Torch over Malta. On return to Britain, he was killed whilst carrying out reconnaissance over the French coast and crashed in southern England.
Marriage and issue
[edit]On 15 October 1938 he married Ann Prunella Stack, the leader of the Women's League for Health and Beauty.
They had two sons:
- Diarmaid Douglas-Hamilton (1940–2023),[2] an astrophysicist at Harvard University
- Iain Douglas-Hamilton (born 1942), zoologist, father of television presenter Saba Douglas-Hamilton
See also
[edit]- Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton
- George Nigel Douglas-Hamilton, 10th Earl of Selkirk
- Lord Malcolm Douglas-Hamilton
References
[edit]- ^ "Fallen Officers: Squadron Leader Lord David Douglas-Hamilton". The Times. The Times Digital Archive. 4 August 1944. p. 7.
- ^ Douglas-Hamilton, Iain (21 February 2023). "Obituaries: Diarmaid Douglas-Hamilton, physicist, inventor, and enthusiastic mountaineer". The Scotsman. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
External links
[edit]
- 1912 births
- 1944 deaths
- Nobility from South Lanarkshire
- Scottish male boxers
- Heavyweight boxers
- Boxers at the 1934 British Empire Games
- Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Scotland
- People educated at Harrow School
- Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
- Scottish airmen
- Royal Air Force squadron leaders
- Younger sons of dukes
- Royal Air Force pilots of World War II
- Aviators killed by being shot down
- Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II
- Commonwealth Games medallists in boxing
- Medallists at the 1934 British Empire Games
- 20th-century Scottish sportsmen
- Scottish nobility stubs
- Royal Air Force personnel stubs
- British boxing biography stubs
- Scottish sportspeople stubs