Perthshire Advertiser, 19th April 1941

“PERTHSHIRE OFICER KILLED IN ETHIOPIA"

“SON OF LOGIERAIT PARISH MINISTER"

“Official intimation has been received by the Rev. Dr. and Mrs Coll A. Macdonald, Manse of Logierait, Ballinluig, that their youngest son, El Bimbashi Colin Lorne Macdonald, was killed on active service on April 1."

“Twenty-nine years of age, he was a member of the Sudan Defence Corps."

“In 1934 he received an appointment as a probationer in the Sudan political service, and before going to the Sudan to take up this post he proceeded to Oxford University for a year’s special preparation in Arabic and Law. On the completion of his training at Oxford University he was posted to the Northern Province of the Sudan."

"He was then transferred to El Obeid, Kordofan Province. After that he was attached to the Civil Secretary’s Office at Khartoum. He had just arrived for his leave at Manse of Logierait when war broke out, and on his return he joined the Sudan Defence Force."

“Colin received his early education at Logierait Public School, Ballinluig, afterwards going to George Watson’s College, Edinburgh, and Edinburgh University, where he graduated M.A. with Honours in Economic Science. While at school in Edinburgh he was Sergeant in the O.T.C. and gained Certificate ‘A.’ He also secured the Bronze Medallion of the Royal Life-Saving Society, being an expert swimmer."

“At the University he was secretary of the University Celtic Society and was a president of the society for three years. He was treasurer of the E.U. Fencing Club, and then captain of the foil team."

"An all-round sportsman, being equally capable with gun and rod, he was a keen rugby player. He was a great favourite with all classes in the Mid-Atholl district and much sympathy is extended to his sorrowing parents and brothers.”

In March 2022, Colin MacDonald’s nephew, Angus Macdonald, spoke at length about his uncle at the Manse at Logierait beside the River Tay in Perthshire and his interview is now part of our film "Perth Academy Remembers".

A summary of what he said is included below:

"Colin Lorne Macdonald was killed in Ethiopia on 1st April 1941, he was 29 years old.

"Colin was raised in the building behind me, where his father was the minister here at Logierait in Highland Perthshire."

"He went to the local school before attending Perth Academy and then George Watson’s College in Edinburgh. From there he was a student at Edinburgh University and after graduating he was successful in securing a position with the colonial service in Sudan. This was an elite service, which had recruited almost exclusively from Oxford and Cambridge and Colin was one of the first Scottish graduates to apply and be accepted."

"I'm standing here beside the River Tay, and this is where Colin was brought up - his homeland. I visited his grave in Adis Ababa in 2016 and I have to say I was very impressed with the CWGC and how they have maintained the cemetery; such a contrast between the African sun and the beautiful gardens. So similar to what I knew to be this beautiful environment, but so far away and a place that neither his parents or his brothers would ever be able to visit."

"On the day he died Colin had led two platoons of native troops (he was an Arabic speaker) on a scouting mission in preparation for a night attack. During the night attack, in terrible weather conditions, Colin was shot through the temple and killed. His number two, a Great War veteran, carried Colin away from the fighting and buried him in the hills."

"Another officer, who thought very highly of Colin, carved out and painted a headstone and carried it nine miles to place it at his grave. After the war all of the casualties were re-interred in the CWGC cemetery at Adis Ababa."

"My dad always said that Colin was the best of them, there were four brothers who served in the war and paid service to what was then the British Empire, and I’m only sorry that I never got to meet him."