07-05-2025
The Scottish mother who funded WW2 planes after tragic death of her three sons
The MacRobert family of Douneside, Aberdeenshire, lost all three sons in separate air tragedies before and during the Second World War
As Scotland prepares to mark VE Day, the extraordinary story of one family's wartime sacrifice continues to resonate more than 80 years on. Families all across the country were devastated by tragic losses around the Second World War.
However, the suffering of the MacRobert family of Douneside in Aberdeenshire was heartbreaking in the extreme. All three sons of Lady Rachel Workman MacRobert and her late husband Sir Alexander MacRobert were killed in separate aviation tragedies in the years leading up to and during the war.
Their courage, and their mother's powerful response to grief, created a lasting legacy that still shapes charitable work in Scotland today. The eldest son, Alasdair, inherited the family baronetcy following Sir Alexander's death in 1922.
But in 1938, Alasdair was killed in a civil aviation accident at the age of just 26. The title passed to his younger brother, Roderic, a Royal Air Force pilot.
Tragically, Roderic died three years later on May 22, 1941, also aged 26, during a daring low-level attack on a German-held airfield in Iraq. The baronetcy then passed to the youngest son, Iain, who had joined the RAF straight from Cambridge University.
Less than six weeks after Roderic's death, 24-year-old Iain went missing during a search and rescue mission from RAF Thornaby in North Yorkshire. His Blenheim aircraft never returned and his body was never recovered.
Faced with the unimaginable loss of all three sons, Lady MacRobert responded with action that showed extraordinary resilience.
According to The MacRobert Trust, she donated £25,000 (equivalent to £1.6mil in 2025) to the RAF to fund a bomber, asking that it be named 'MacRobert's Reply' in their honour.
The Short Stirling bomber was handed over to XV Squadron in October 1941 and was first captained by Flying Officer PJS Boggis, who flew twelve operational missions in the aircraft.
The gesture marked the beginning of a tradition that lives on within the RAF to this day, with a series of aircraft continuing to carry the name 'MacRobert's Reply'.
In 1942, Lady MacRobert donated a further £20,000 (£1.2mil in 2025) for the purchase of four Hurricane fighters. Three were named after her sons and the fourth after herself. They were sent to support RAF operations in the Middle East.
Her generosity and determination in the face of personal tragedy built on the legacy of her husband, who had risen from modest beginnings to make his fortune in India through hard work and education.
It also reflected the spirit of her own American parents, who were renowned mountaineers, explorers and authors.
Between 1943 and 1950, Lady MacRobert established a series of charitable trusts designed to promote the values she believed had inspired so many young people, including her sons, to serve during the war.
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She was determined to create opportunities for the next generation to embrace 'the best traditional ideals and spirit', values that still underpin the work of The MacRobert Trust today.
Lady MacRobert died in 1954, but her story and the family's sacrifice have not been forgotten.
Her legacy was later featured on BBC Radio 4's Great Lives series and continues to be shared by The MacRobert Trust, which remains active in Scotland supporting education, training and service personnel.
