Ian Garnet Maclaren 1915-1997 Born 24 August 1915, Troon, Aryshire, Scotland. Died 16 February 1997, Gatehouse of Fleet,Kirkcudbrighthshire, Scotland. Son of Norman Maclaren 1880-1936 & Mary Margaret Garnet 1894-1989. Husband of Annette Mary Birtwistle. Father of Robert, Hamish, Simon, & Susan. Obituary: Ian Garnet Maclaren DFC TD. Combined from obits submitted to, and much of which appeared in, The Herald, (Glasgow) Published Thursday 6th March 1997. The Scotsman and The Ampleforth Journal Ian Garnett Maclaren died at home in Gatehouse of Fleet on Sunday 16th February at the age of 81. Ian Maclaren had a varied life that spanned distinguished war service, international business success, and voluntary work. He was born in Troon in 1915 and was brought up in West Kilbride while his father was a Professor at Glasgow University. He and his brother Peter learnt to enjoy golf fishing shooting and other country pursuits. He was educated at Ampleforth (St Wilfreds 1925 - 32. Prep School in 1923 and was a founder member of Wilfreds, and boasted that he was selected for the house cricket team when the house only had eleven members) and Glasgow University where his father had been a professor. He served as an engineering apprentice before joining the old established family firm of Robert Maclaren & Company which manufactured thermostats in Glasgow. He claimed that his first memory was of being held by a nurse, at the age of two, in front of a window to look at an airplane. This was being flown by his cousin, Fred Maclaren, who had been an aerial observer at one of the British Army's last cavalry charges at the Battle of Huj in Palestine in 1917. He joined the TA as a Gunner in 1938 and was mobilised in August 1939. Transferring to the RAF in 1941, flying Blenheim light bombers. During his tours he took part in all the early landings - in Dieppe, North Africa, Sicily, and Italy as the king noted when presenting his DFC . He was awarded an immediate DFC for action during the final attempted German breakout at Kesserine Pass in Tunisia.By following a railway line under very low clouds in foul weather his was one of only a few aircraft that got through and carried out several attacks. On returning to base, where his gunner found that his own parachute had been shredded off his back by the intense AA fire, he rearmed his aircraft for a second sortie. Unfortunately this was thwarted by a malfunction ten minutes from target. For this action the squadron was signaled commendations by Monty and Air Marshall Tedder and received a visit from General Alexander to express his personal thanks. Note >From 614 Squadron History The Kasserine Pass break-through was assisted by 614's attacks on enemy transports and both 'Monty' end Air Marshal Tedder signalled commendations as the Bisleys left the roads littered with useless Nazi vehicles. General Alexander visited the squadron to give them his personal thanks It was believed that he, with his navigator and gunner, who served together for exactly two years, were probably the last surviving intact Blenheim crew. He was posted to Combined Opps for D-Day and ended the war commanding an air base in the Philippines which, after VJ-Day, was used for the evacuation of prisoners of war. He was one of the first to fly into Hong Kong after Japan's surrender. His great aunt was the famous Abbess of Stanbrook on whose correspondence with George Bernard Shaw the successful West End Play 'The Best of Friends' with John Geilgud was based. He attributed his survival during the war to the prayers of Stanbrook Abbey. In 1947 he married Annette Birtwistle whose four brothers had been at Ampleforth. They were married by her uncle, Fr Stephen Marwood. On demobilisation he returned to the family company in Glasgow, eventually becoming managing director. He sold the company to the US conglomerate ITT in 1964 and became the CEO (manager) of its European Controls Division. This required him to spend much of his time on the Continent. Having reached the rank of Wing Commander during the war he was asked to command 277 Field Regiment Royal Artillery, the Greenock TA unit, in 1958. This he did for four years and had the distinction of commanding two different regiments when the Gunner Regiment was amalgamated with and rebadged as. 5/6 Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. At that time hebattalion held the World Pipe Band Championship. He enjoyed the confusion caused by his TD (Territorial Decoration) alongside his RAF wings and decoration. Preferring to spend more time in Scotland he retired from business in 1975. Having earlier chaired the building committee for the local Catholic church in Largs he became involved in the local community, helping to start a local branch of Age Concern, including instigating a day center. He wrote the constitution for the local community council. His home and gardens were opened for many charitable functions. He was the local representative for SSAFA. He stood unsuccessfully in the first Strathclyde Regional Council elections in 1973 before moving to New Galloway in 1975. There he became treasurer of the local Conservative Party and was chairman and treasurer of the Galloway branch of the National Trust for Scotland. He co-founded the Thursday Lunch Club and the Easter Charity Reel Club. He was a keen shot and enthusiastic angler and shared with his brothers a love of gardening. He enjoyed National Hunt racing and for a while had some success with horses in training. He was an enthusiastic painter and skier, an occasional golfer, and had taught himself to sail before the war. He is remembered by his friends for his sense of humour and the dog which accompanied him on all his country pursuits. (and for the outstanding gardens that he left at his homes in Skelmorlie, Ayrshire and in New Galloway. Kirkcudbrightshire. He is survived by his wife Annette, whom he married in 1947, three sons, and a daughter. Additional bits In the early 1900 his father had traveled through Alaska with a team of husky dogs and a Chinese cook, making the first map of large areas of Alaska, breaking an arm in a crevasse and setting it himself. He was a fellow of the Royal Geographic Society and the Linean Society.