Grahame Donald
| Sir David Grahame Donald | |
|---|---|
Air Marshal Donald, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, RAF Maintenance Command, at his desk in his Headquarters in Andover, Hampshire.
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| Born | 27 July 1891 |
| Died | 23 December 1976 (aged 85) Hampshire, England |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/branch |
Royal Navy (1914–18) Royal Air Force (1918–47) |
| Years of service | 1914–47 |
| Rank | Air Marshal |
| Commands held |
Maintenance Command (1942–47) No. 1 (Indian Wing) Station (1932–33) School of Naval Co-operation (1929–31) No. 201 Squadron (1928–29) No. 3 Squadron (1921–23) No. 205 Squadron (1920–21) |
| Battles/wars |
First World War Second World War |
| Awards |
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Flying Cross Air Force Cross Mentioned in Despatches (2) War Cross, 2nd Class (Greece) |
| School | Dulwich College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| University | University College, Oxford | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position(s) | Prop | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Points) |
| 1911–1914 | Oxford University (served in First World War in this time) | () | |
| National team(s) | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Points) |
| 1914 | Scotland | 2 | () |
Air Marshal Sir David Grahame Donald, KCB, DFC, AFC (27 July 1891 – 23 December 1976), often known as Sir Grahame Donald, was a Royal Naval Air Service pilot during the First World War, a senior Royal Air Force (RAF) officer between the wars and a senior RAF commander during the Second World War. In February 1939, Donald was appointed Director of Organisation at the Air Ministry. He was also a rugby union international having represented Scotland twice in 1914.
Grahame Donald was the son of Dr David Donald, and was educated at Dulwich College where he played in a school team that featured five future international rugby footballers. From Dulwich he went on to University College, Oxford and from there entered the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve in 1914 as a surgeon probationer. He served aboard a hospital ship, torpedo boat and a destroyer before transferring to the Royal Navy Air Service in 1916.
Whilst at Dulwich College he played in an unbeaten first XV in 1909 which contained five future internationals dubbed the 'Famous Five'. These five would all go on to play in the 1913 Varsity match, (and also produced the captains of both Oxford and Cambridge in 1919), and all served in the First World War. They were Eric Loudoun-Shand and Grahame Donald who went on to play for Scotland, W. D. Doherty who went on to play for and captain Ireland, J. E. Greenwood who went on to play for and captain England and the record-breaking Cyril Lowe.
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