Brigadier General Ewen Alexander Fitzroy MACPHERSON (31504) MC
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders

Date of birth: 19th February 1905
Date of death: 19th December 1952

Died aged 47
Unknown
Ewen Alexander Fitzroy Macpherson was born at Winchester, Hampshire on the 19th of February 1905 the twin son of the Reverend Ewen George Fitzroy Macpherson BA CMG CBE, Chaplain to the Forces, and Adela Charlotte Laetitia (nee Anderson) Macpherson later of Chawton Rectory, Alton in Hampshire.

He was educated at Lancing College from January 1919 to December 1922 where he was in Fields House. He was a member of the Running VIII in 1921 and was their Captain in 1922.He was Public Schools Steeplechase Champion in 1921. He was a member of the Athletics Team in 1922 and was a Sergeant in the Officer Training Corps where he achieved Certificate A in 1921. He achieved his School Certificate in 1922 and was appointed as a House Captain in the same year.

In 1923 he entered the Royal Military College Sandhurst where he won a "Blue" for athletics in 1923 and 1924. He was awarded the Sandhurst Athletics Medal in 1924 for winning the quarter mile race when he won the annual race between Sandhurst and the Royal Academy Woolwich. The medal came up for auction in 2012. Also in 1924 he represented a combined Sandhurst, Woolwich side against The Achilles Club.

He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders on the 30th of August 1924 and was posted to the 2nd Battalion of his regiment. He was promoted to Lieutenant on the 30th of August 1926. He represented the Army in the Inter Services Athletic Championships in 1925, 1926 and 1927 and was Army Half Mile Champion in 1926, a race in which he had finished third in 1925. He was East of Scotland Half Mile Champion in 1930.

He was promoted to Captain on the 4th of April 1935 and was seconded for service as Adjutant of the 7th Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders from the same date, serving with them until the 3rd of February 1939 when went to the Staff College. On leaving he was appointed as Brigade Major of the 153rd Infantry Brigade, 51st Highland Division and was captured at St Valery on the 12th of June 1940 where he won the Military Cross "In recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the field" which was announced by the War Office on the 11th of October 1945. He was held as a prisoner of war as POW No. 1341 at Oflag VIIC at Laufen from 1940 to 1945 and was mentioned in despatches in 1945. The citation for his mention in despatches, which was not to be published at the time, read as follows: - "Whilst a prisoner in Germany Major Macpherson on many occasions between March 1941 and October 1944 passed valuable information to the War Office by secret means." During his time as a prisoner he was promoted to Major on the 30th of August 1941.

He served in Palestine from 1946 until August 1947 for which he was twice mentioned in despatches "For gallant and distinguished services in the field" which was announced in the London Gazette of the 14th of November 1946 and of the 14th of February 1947. He was commanding officer of the 1st Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders from the 12th of January 1947 when he arrived in Egypt, where the battalion was resting following a tour of Palestine. He returned there with the battalion a week later. He returned to England for a duty visit at the beginning of June and returned to Palestine the following month. He was Mentioned by the King in recognition of "Gallant and distinguished services in Palestine during the period 27th September 1947 - 26th March 1948" which was announced by the War Office on the 7th of January 1949. He relinquished command of the battalion on the 10th of March 1948 when he was appointed as Commanding Officer of 61 Lorried Infantry Brigade. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on the 18th of July 1947.

On the 30th of October 1948 a parade was held at Colchester to mark the amalgamation of the 1st and 2nd Battalions Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of which Ewen Macpherson was appointed as Commanding Officer of the new battalion. On the 3rd of June 1949 the battalion paraded once again for a Royal inspection when Queen Elizabeth visited the battalion prior to its deployment to Hong Kong. Immediately after the parade Ewen Macpherson relinquished command of the battalion on his promotion to Brigadier Gneral in the same year. He was then posted to command the Kaduna Sub District of Northern Nigeria.

He was married at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Shanghai on the 18th of October 1933 to Yvonne Prentice (nee Crighton); they lived at The Thatched Cottage, Shurlock Row, Reading in Berkshire; they had a son.

He died suddenly at the squash courts at Fort George near Inverness.

A brother officer wrote:-

"To a very wide circle of friends Cluny Macpherson's sudden death at the age of 47 will have brought great sadness. No one who met him could fail to be captivated by his delightfully open, gay and unassuming nature and by his vital zest for living, or influenced by his high principles and his absolute rejection of anything petty or mean . A brilliant athlete, immensely popular with men and officers, devoted to his regiment, he was a born leader and it was sad that a man of his qualities and inexhaustible energy should have to spend most of the war as a prisoner in Germany. And yet as one would have expected, it was those cramped and frustrating conditions that brought out the best in his sterling character. Many will remember with affection his unselfishness and thoughtfulness for others, above all his courage; however depressing things seemed to be it was impossible to be gloomy or discouraged in his presence. It was characteristic of him that, hardly released from Germany, he was volunteering for operations against the Japanese and it was a gratifying and wise selection that enabled him to rise in only three years from Major to Brigadier; he was clearly marked for higher rank. Truly can we, his friends, be thankful for every remembrance of him, for as a positive influence for good few have been his equal in our lives."

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