Douglas McConnel

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.

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)

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]

McConnel, after passing out from Woolwich, was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Royal Artillery on 20 December 1912, alongside future generals Ivor Thomas, William Mirrlees, William Morgan, both fellow artillerymen, and Christopher Woolner of the Royal Engineers.[3][4] 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[5] and captain on 20 December 1916,[6] McConnel ended the war in 1918 as a major.[7]

After the war he became a staff captain at the School of Artillery in 1920.[4] After attending the Staff College, Camberley from 1925 to 1926, he 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.[4]

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.[4] In July 1940 he was mentioned in despatches[8] and was promoted to acting major general on 16 October 1941,[9] and temporary major general on 16 October 1942.[10] After the War he became General Officer Commanding Lowland District in Scotland before retiring in 1947.[4][7]

McConnel lived at Knockdolian near Gillemichael in Ayrshire.[11]

Family

He married Ruth Mary Garnett-Botfield, daughter of Major Walter Dutton Garnett-Botfield. They had one daughter, Diana, who became the Duchess of Wellington.[12]

References
  1. "McCONNEL, Major-Geneneral 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. The Times Digital Archive. 10 February 1961. p. 17.
  3. "No. 28683". The London Gazette. 21 January 1913. p. 497.
  4. "McConnel, Douglas Fitzgerald". Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  5. "No. 29226". The London Gazette. 9 July 1915. p. 6798.
  6. "No. 29904". The London Gazette. 16 January 1917. p. 604.
  7. Smart, p. 199
  8. "No. 34904". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 July 1940. p. 4580.
  9. "No. 35348". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 November 1941. p. 6621.
  10. "No. 35749". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 October 1942. p. 4537.
  11. 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.
  12. "The Duchess of Wellington". The Telegraph. 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.
Military offices
Preceded by
Sir Henry Maitland Wilson		 GOC British Forces in Palestine and Trans-Jordan
1941–1944		 Succeeded by
John D'Arcy
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