Douglas Lilburn MacEwen was born in 1867. He was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant into the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders on 21 Dec 1889. He was promoted to lieutenant on 24 July 1891 and captain on 3 April 1897. He fought in the Sudan in 1897 with the regiment and in South Africa in the Boer War. He was promoted to major on 16 April 1904 and served as a staff officer in the War Office from 14 May 1910. He was appointed CO the 2nd Battalion on 1April 1912. He served in the First World War, and the Edinburgh Gazette of 5 June 1917 stated that Colonel (temporary Brigadier-General) Douglas Lilburn MacEwen CB was to receive the Legion d’Honneur, Croix de Commandeur. He was married to Mary Gansevaert.
The UCLA Library digital collection has a photo of Brigadier-General MacEwen with his wife Mary arriving in the US on the San Pedro in February 1935. The Los Angeles Times described him as the Hero of Ypres. He died in 1941
