Duncan Alwyn Macfarlane was born on 19 November 1857 in Staveley, Derbyshire. His father was the Reverend James Duncan Macfarlane MA of Staveley, and his mother was Grace (née Hallewell). He was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, matriculating on 22 April 1876 and graduating BA in Humanities and Classics at St Alban Hall in 1879.
He entered the army as a lieutenant in the 1st West India Regiment on 6 May 1882, serving on the west coast of Africa in 1883 during the Expedition to Sherbro. He was promoted captain on 11 January 1888 and exchanged to the 2nd Battalion King’s Own Scottish Borderers in May 1888. He served with the battalion in the Sudan, taking part in the battle of Gemaziah in December 1888 and operations on the Nile in 1889. He was also in India when the battalion fought in the Relief of Chitral, and was badly wounded in the storming of the Malakand Pass on 26 March 1895.
In the Tirah campaign he was present at Dargai and at the capture of the Sampagha and Arhanga Passes in October 1897. He was Mentioned in Despatches for the reconnaissance and action in the Dwatoi Country and the Bara Valley in November, and was given a brevet majority in May 1898. He transferred to the 1st Battalion for service in the South African War in 1900, taking part in operations in the Orange Free State and in the actions at Vet River and Zand River in May. The battalion occupied Johannesburg and Pretoria, and he fought at Zilikat’s Nek on 2 August 1900. He also fought in the action at Vlakfontein in 1901. Macfarlane temporarily commanded the 1st Battalion KOSB in early 1902 during the guerrilla phase of the war in the Transvaal, and was in command at Bronkhurst Spruit and Eareste Fabreiken, overseeing operations against mobile Boer commandos. He was twice Mentioned in Despatches and appointed Companion of the Distinguished Service Order on 27 September 1901.
On 10 November 1905 Lieutenant-Colonel Macfarlane was given command of the 1st Battalion KOSB while they were in Colchester and then in Egypt, remaining in command until November 1909. On retiring with the rank of colonel he was on half pay, but resumed active duty in 1911 when he was given command of a Territorial brigade in Scottish Command. In the First World War he served as inspector of infantry with the temporary rank of brigadier-general. He was appointed CB in 1915 and retired from the army in July 1918.
He served as Deputy Lieutenant of Inverness-shire and was appointed Colonel of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers on 30 January 1928. He married Edith Lavinia Bingham on 30 April 1913 and lived in Inverness; there were no children from the marriage. He relinquished the colonelcy of the KOSB in 1938 and died on 9 April 1941 at his home, Dunain Park House, Inverness.
The photo shows Lieutenant-Colonel Duncan Macfarlane in dress uniform and white helmet while the 1st Battalion was serving in Egypt in 1906.
1882 Lieutenant, 1st West India Regt 6 May
1888 Captain, 2nd West India Regt 11 Jan
1888 Captain, 2nd Bn KOSB 16 May
1898 Brevet Major 20 May
1900 Major, 1st Bn 5 Jan
1902 Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 22 Aug
1905 Lieutenant-Colonel, CO 1st Bn KOSB 10 Nov
1907 Brevet Colonel 1 Apr
1909 Colonel Nov
1914 Brigadier-General Aug
1928 Colonel of the KOSB 30 Jan
