RAF Wing Commander;
Born December 15, 1912;
Died March 25, 2007.
It is perfectly possible that Wing Commander Alexander Fordyce Hamilton would have been deeply discomfited at seeing his name in public print.
He was, above all, a modest, unassuming and decent man.
His modesty, however, veiled a quiet personal courage which not only inspired the men he led in wartime but gave succour to those who subsequently knew him. His RAF flight crews regarded him as that most cherished of officers, a lucky pilot. He always got his men home, often against impossible odds.
Known fondly as "Ham", he gained a DSO and DFC, and the personal commendation of Air Marshal Arthur "Bomber" Harris, although he seldom spoke about the events which earned him these recognitions. Almost certainly, he preferred the verse about him in the RAF 100 Squadron song.
It relates to a desperate attack on his Lancaster as he returned from a mission over Germany in the dying days of the war. Battered and low on fuel, his aircraft was suddenly pounced on by enemy fighters who were strafing him from above and below.
His answer was to dive through them to the countryside of France and brush the poplars as he flew, well below altimeter reading, back to England.
In the song, he is described as "Wing Commander Hamilton, a conscientious Scot". It goes on: "If you ask my crew if I've any faults, they'll tell you in accents sweet, You can see the ants as we stooge over France at altitude zero feet."
His DSO was gained during a brutal run into target at railway sidings at Hanau in a bitter January when his plane was rocked by a massive explosion and the fuselage filled with dark, acrid smoke. Although temporarily blinded, he fought the lumbering bomber back on to an even keel and battled through the flak successfully to complete his bombing run.
Hamilton was born in Glasgow to missionary parents of Scottish and Irish stock who served in India stations. His father died of septicaemia after a dental accident and the boy was sent to John Watson's Institution (for orphans of professional people) and then attended George Watson's as a boarder.
He studied medicine at Edinburgh at the instigation of his mother, but declared: "Skinning pickled corpses is hardly my thing." His real passion was flying and he gained a short service commission in the RAF in 1932 at the age of 18. He trained as a flying instructor and, in 1938, became a test pilot at the Bristol Aeroplane Company, then the world's largest aircraft factory, producing planes such as the Bulldog and the Blenheim.
The outbreak of war took him back into the RAF and he performed vital service training pilots in the UK and Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. But Hamilton's instinctive sense of duty directed him towards active service and he requested a return to the UK to join Bomber Command in 1943.
He undertook 34 missions over enemy territory, four of them above and beyond the call of duty. His crews, whose welfare was always his primary consideration, held him in deep respect and affection. He rose to command 100 Squadron.
On demobilisation, he briefly managed a civilian airport on Islay before being recalled to the RAF and serving in Germany and at Andover Staff College where he became a director, an honour he prized greatly.
He left the RAF in 1958 and held posts in business development and charity management before retiring in 1977. He joined the congregation of, and became an elder in, Glasgow Cathedral, where his funeral service was held yesterday. His companion in retirement was his wife, Mary, with whom he enjoyed nearly 70 years of marriage before her death last year.
He is survived by his sister, Agnes, his children, Jean, Ian and Rosalind, eight grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and three step-grandchildren.
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