The Warwickshire Regiment


Major-General R C Macdonald CB DSO OBE


Macdonald was an energetic Battalion commanding officer who served throughout World War 2 and the Korean War. In the war he was CO of the 6th Battalion South Staffords when they landed on D-Day, then of the 1st King's Own Scottish Borderers which fought from the River Maas through the battles of the Rhineland. It was in March 1945 when he returned to the Warwicks to command the 2nd battalion up to the end of the war.

After the war he was a staff officer, working as Military Assistant to Montgomery and Slim, both ex-Warwicks officers. After Staff college he served in West Africa then commanded the 1st Warwicks in Korea. He served on the staff in Versailles then commanded 10th Infantry Brigade in Germany. Further staff work took him to Arabia and France.

He was appointed Colonel of the Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers in 1963 when the regiment joined the Fusilier Brigade. He retired in 1965 to work as a farm manager in Melksham for Griffin Farms, producing eggs. But he continued in his job as Colonel of the Regiment, even after amalgamation on 23rd April 1968 when the Warwicks became one of the units to form the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. He accepted the post of Deputy Colonel.

He had been born in India in August 1911, a 6th generation grandson of Flora Macdonald. His father was Colonel C R Macdonald who commanded the 1st Battalion Warwicks in the mid-20s. He was educated at Rugby and then Sandhurst, entering the Warwicks in 1931. He was a well liked officer who played golf, had a sense of humour and a polite manner, although he could be firm and decisive when it was needed.


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