Donald McLachlan
Encyclopedia
Donald Harvey McLachlan (25 September 1898 – 10 January 1971) was a Scottish
journalist
and author
who was the founding editor of The Sunday Telegraph.
, McLachlan was educated at the City of London School
and Magdalen College, Oxford
, where he gained first class honors in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. After a period as a Laming Fellow at The Queen's College, Oxford
, he began his career in journalism in 1933 with a position as a sub-editor
and foreign correspondent
for The Times
. As a correspondent, he specialized in European affairs and twice acted as an assistant correspondent in Berlin
, where he worked alongside Norman Ebbutt
. In 1936 McLachlan became an Assistant-Master in Winchester College
, though he continued to undertake part-time editorial work. In 1938, he took over as editor of the Times Educational Supplement
, a position he held for two years. During this period, he also helped to prepare The Timess Air Raid Precautions
(ARP) team, which was widely regarded as the best in the City of London
.
Though initially a member of the British Army
's Intelligence Corps during the Second World War
, McLachlan was transferred to the Naval Intelligence Division
early on by Admiral John Henry Godfrey
, where he was given a variety of assignments. In 1941 he became head of the Naval Propaganda sub-section NID 17Z, which focused on propaganda
efforts against the Kriegsmarine
. He served in this capacity for the remainder of the conflict, and reached the rank of commander
. Among his colleagues during the war was Ian Fleming
, who would later go on to create the character of James Bond
After the war, McLachlan returned to The Times as a leader writer
and he also assisted Stanley Morison
with the Times Literary Supplement
. McLachlan left The Times again in 1947 to take a position as Foreign Editor of The Economist
. In 1954, he moved to The Daily Telegraph
, where he worked as Deputy Editor. In 1961, he became editor of the new Sunday Telegraph, a position he held for five years. After his retirement, McLachlan wrote two books: a history of the Naval Intelligence division Room 39 and a biography of his former Times editor, Robert M'Gowan Barrington-Ward
. He died in a car accident in Scotland in 1971, just before the publication of the latter work.
, a noted Labour Party
Member of Parliament who has served in a number of offices since 1997.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
who was the founding editor of The Sunday Telegraph.
Education and career
Born in IslingtonIslington
Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...
, McLachlan was educated at the City of London School
City of London School
The City of London School is a boys' independent day school on the banks of the River Thames in the City of London, England. It is the brother school of the City of London School for Girls and the co-educational City of London Freemen's School...
and Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
, where he gained first class honors in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. After a period as a Laming Fellow at The Queen's College, Oxford
The Queen's College, Oxford
The Queen's College, founded 1341, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Queen's is centrally situated on the High Street, and is renowned for its 18th-century architecture...
, he began his career in journalism in 1933 with a position as a sub-editor
Copy editing
Copy editing is the work that an editor does to improve the formatting, style, and accuracy of text. Unlike general editing, copy editing might not involve changing the substance of the text. Copy refers to written or typewritten text for typesetting, printing, or publication...
and foreign correspondent
Correspondent
A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is a journalist or commentator, or more general speaking, an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, location. A foreign correspondent is stationed in a foreign...
for The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
. As a correspondent, he specialized in European affairs and twice acted as an assistant correspondent in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, where he worked alongside Norman Ebbutt
Norman Ebbutt
Norman Ebbutt was a British journalist. In 1925 he was sent to Berlin where he became chief correspondent for The Times, remaining in Germany until his expulsion by the Nazis in August 1937, following accusations of espionage.- Biography :...
. In 1936 McLachlan became an Assistant-Master in Winchester College
Winchester College
Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...
, though he continued to undertake part-time editorial work. In 1938, he took over as editor of the Times Educational Supplement
Times Educational Supplement
The Times Educational Supplement is a weekly UK publication aimed primarily at school teachers in the UK. It was first published in 1910 as a pull-out supplement in The Times newspaper. Such was its popularity that in 1914, the supplement became a separate publication selling for 1 penny.The TES...
, a position he held for two years. During this period, he also helped to prepare The Timess Air Raid Precautions
Air Raid Precautions
Air Raid Precautions was an organisation in the United Kingdom set up as an aid in the prelude to the Second World War dedicated to the protection of civilians from the danger of air-raids. It was created in 1924 as a response to the fears about the growing threat from the development of bomber...
(ARP) team, which was widely regarded as the best in the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
.
Though initially a member of the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
's Intelligence Corps during the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, McLachlan was transferred to the Naval Intelligence Division
Naval Intelligence Division
The Naval Intelligence Division was the intelligence arm of the British Admiralty before the establishment of a unified Defence Staff in 1965. It dealt with matters concerning British naval plans, with the collection of naval intelligence...
early on by Admiral John Henry Godfrey
John Henry Godfrey
Admiral John Henry Godfrey CB was an officer of the Royal Navy and Royal Indian Navy, specializing in navigation....
, where he was given a variety of assignments. In 1941 he became head of the Naval Propaganda sub-section NID 17Z, which focused on propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
efforts against the Kriegsmarine
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
. He served in this capacity for the remainder of the conflict, and reached the rank of commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
. Among his colleagues during the war was Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
, who would later go on to create the character of James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
After the war, McLachlan returned to The Times as a leader writer
Leader writer
A Leader Writer is a senior journalist in a British newspaper who is charged with writing the paper's editorial either in the absence of the editor or in cases where the editor chooses not to write editorials because their editorial skills may rest more in management of the company than in writing...
and he also assisted Stanley Morison
Stanley Morison
Stanley Morison was an English typographer, designer and historian of printing.Born in Wanstead, Essex, Morison spent most of his childhood and early adult years at the family home in Fairfax Road, Harringay...
with the Times Literary Supplement
The Times Literary Supplement
The Times Literary Supplement is a weekly literary review published in London by News International, a subsidiary of News Corporation.-History:...
. McLachlan left The Times again in 1947 to take a position as Foreign Editor of The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
. In 1954, he moved to The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, where he worked as Deputy Editor. In 1961, he became editor of the new Sunday Telegraph, a position he held for five years. After his retirement, McLachlan wrote two books: a history of the Naval Intelligence division Room 39 and a biography of his former Times editor, Robert M'Gowan Barrington-Ward
Robert M'Gowan Barrington-Ward
Robert McGowan Barrington-Ward DSO MC was an English barrister and journalist who was editor of The Times from 1941 until 1948.-Family and early life:...
. He died in a car accident in Scotland in 1971, just before the publication of the latter work.
Personal life
In 1934 McLachlan married Katherine "Kitty" Harman, the sister of British author Elizabeth Pakenham. Together they had four children: Andrew (b. 1935), Jeremy Hugh (b. 1937), Valerie Jean (b. 1939) and Donald Alistair. One of relatives by marriage is his niece Harriet HarmanHarriet Harman
Harriet Ruth Harman QC is a British Labour Party politician, who is the Member of Parliament for Camberwell and Peckham, and was MP for the predecessorPeckham constituency from 1982 to 1997...
, a noted Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
Member of Parliament who has served in a number of offices since 1997.
Works
- Room 39: Naval Intelligence in Action, 1939-45, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1968
- In the Chair: Barrington-Ward of "The Times", 1927-1948, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1971, ISBN 297-00305-4
Further reading
- Iverach McDonald, The History of "The Times", vol. 5: Struggles in War and Peace, 1939-1966, Times Books, 1984, ISBN 0-7230-0262-2
- Nicholas Rankin, Churchill's Wizards: The British Genius for Deception, 1914-1945, Faber and Faber, 2008, ISBN 0571221955