Douglas McConnel

Douglas McConnel
Born	9 June 1893 Derbyshire, England
Died	February 7, 1961 (aged 67)
Buried at	Colmonell, Ayrshire, Scotland
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1912–1947
Rank	Major-General
Commands held	British Forces in Palestine and Trans-Jordan Lowland District
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order

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

Military career

Born the son of William Holdsworth McConnel, a naval 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 was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1912.^[3] He served in the First World War after which he became a staff captain at the School of Artillery in 1920.^[3] He went on to be Officer Commanding the Gentlemen Cadets at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich later that year, a General Staff Officer at the Royal Army Service Corps Training Centre in 1933 and a General Staff Officer at the Staff College, Camberley in 1936.^[3] He served in the Second World War, initially as a General Staff Officer in Mandatory Palestine and Trans-Jordan and then from 1941, as General Officer Commanding British Troops in Palestine and Trans-Jordan.^[3] After the War he became General Officer Commanding Lowland District in Scotland before retiring in 1947.^[3]

McConnel lived at Knockdolian near Gillemichael in Ayrshire.^[4]

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.^[5]

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. "McConnel, Douglas Fitzgerald". Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
4. 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.
5. "The Duchess of Wellington". The Telegraph. 18 November 2010. Retrieved 23 August 2014.