Donald Walter Cameron of Lochiel

Colonel Sir Donald Walter Cameron of Lochiel, KT, CMG, JP, DL (4 November 1876 – 11 October 1951) was a British Army officer of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, who served in the Second Boer War and the First World War, and the 25th Lochiel of Clan Cameron.

Colonel
Sir Donald Cameron of Lochiel
KT CMG JP DL
The Master of Lochiel, ca. 1899
Lord Lieutenant of Inverness
In office
1939–1951
Preceded byAlfred Mackintosh
Succeeded byThe Lord Macdonald
Personal details
Born(1876-11-04)4 November 1876
Dalkeith Palace, Midlothian, Scotland
Died11 October 1951(1951-10-11) (aged 74)
Inverness, Scotland
Spouse
Lady Hermione Graham
​
​
(m. 1906)​
Children5, including the 26th Lochiel
Parents
Military service
RankColonel
Unit
Battles/wars
Arms of Donald Walter Cameron of Lochiel

Lochiel began his career as an officer during the Second Boer War. In 1914, Field Marshal Herbert Kitchener requested that he raise the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, and Lochiel served as Colonel of the regiment from 1914 to 1916. The casualties his battalions sustained during the war was said to have deeply affected him.[1] After the war, he retired to his estates in Lochaber with interests in sheep farming and land management, and also advocated for the Gaelic revival in Scotland.[2]

Early life

Lochiel was born at Dalkeith Palace, the eldest son of Donald Cameron, 24th Lochiel and Lady Margaret Montagu Douglas Scott, daughter of Walter Montagu Douglas Scott, 5th Duke of Buccleuch. He had three brothers: Ewen, Allan and Archibald; two of whom would be killed during the First World War.[1] He was educated at Harrow and attended Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.[3]

Career
Commanding officers of the Cameron Highlanders at an anniversary gathering in Hertford (Lochiel sits on left)

Cameron was commissioned in the Grenadier Guards on 5 September 1896, and promoted to lieutenant on 8 September 1898. He served in South Africa 1899-1900 during the Second Boer War, where he was part of the Kimberley relief force, and was wounded at the Battle of Belmont (November 1899).[4] He was in South Africa for the end of the war, and was invalided home in July 1902, when he left Cape Town on the SS Canada, returning to Southampton.[5] Lochiel was back with his regiment the same month and promoted to Captain.[6]

In 1914, Lochiel (who was then commanding officer of the 3rd Reserve Battalion of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders) was asked by Field Marshal Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener to raise several battalions of infantry; Lochiel agreed, on condition that he would be Colonel; one of these became the 5th Service Battalion of the regiment, which saw distinguished service on the western front as part 9th (Scottish) Division. His brothers, Allan George Cameron and Archibald Cameron, also served in the Cameron Highlanders, but were both tragically killed in 1914 and 1917.[7][8] Their deaths and those of the many others serving under his command deeply saddened Lochiel.[1] He was invalided home, but resumed command of the 3rd Battalion in January 1918, when it was in Ireland.[9]

From 1920 to 1936, he was aide-de-camp to King George V.[10] He was knighted in 1934, and from 1939 held the office of Lord Lieutenant of Inverness-shire until his death in 1951.[11] On 1 February 1941, Lochiel was appointed Commander, Inverness Group of the Home Guard.[12]

Lochiel travelled to America and Canada several times, firstly with his wife in 1913, and again in 1923, returning in 1924. He was also a passionate advocate of the Gaelic revival and at various times served as Chief, Gaelic society of Inverness. He was also the first chief to organise Clan Cameron gatherings, which took place for the first time in 1938.[2]

During the Second World War, he vacated his residence of Achnacarry to the military for 25,000 soldiers to undergo elite commando training between 1942 and 1945. Achnacarry, transformed into the Commando Basic Training Centre, was known to the soldiers as "Castle Commando".[13]

Family
Lady Hermione Cameron with her children, Violet and Donald, ca. 1914

On 29 March 1906, Lochiel married Lady Hermione Emily Graham, daughter of Douglas Graham, 5th Duke of Montrose and Violet Graham, Duchess of Montrose.[14] They had the following issue:

Notes

    References
    1. Stewart of Ardvorlich, John (1974). The Camerons: A History Of Clan Cameron. The Clan Cameron Charitable Trust. p. 164.
    2. "The Chiefs of Clan Cameron". www.lochiel.net. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
    3. "Colonel Donald Walter Cameron of Lochiel (1876-1951), 25th Chief of Clan Cameron". Ambaile. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
    4. Hart´s Army list, 1903
    5. "The Army in South Africa – Troops returning home". The Times. No. 36821. London. 16 July 1902. p. 11.
    6. "No. 27505". The London Gazette. 19 December 1902. p. 8758.
    7. "Life story: Allan George Cameron | Lives of the First World War". livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
    8. CWGC. "Captain Archibald Cameron | War Casualty Details 743484". CWGC. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
    9. Historical Records of the Queens Own Cameron Highlanders, vol 4. Blackwood, Edinburgh and London. 1931.
    10. "(16) - Army lists > Half-yearly Army lists 1923 - Feb 1950 (From 1947, annual, despite the name) > 1939 > Second half - British Military lists - National Library of Scotland". digital.nls.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
    11. "Clan Cameron genealogies". Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2007.
    12. Home Guard List, p. 5.
    13. "'Commando Basic Training Centre' | ͏". www.commandoveterans.org. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
    14. The Scots Magazine. D.C. Thomson. 1948. p. 327.
    15. Burke's Peerage, p.657
    16. Burke's Peerage, p.656
    17. "Duke of Montrose (S, 1707): Cracroft's Peerage". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Retrieved 28 June 2023.

    Bibliography
    • Home Guard List 1941: Scottish Command. London, United Kingdom: Savannah Paperback Classics. 1941. ISBN 978-1902366258.
    • Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage (107 ed.). Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A: Burke's Peerage. 2003.
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