Lord Edward Hay | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1888-11-02)2 November 1888 East Lothian, Scotland |
| Died | 18 June 1944(1944-06-18) (aged 55) London, England |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | 3 |
| Father | William Hay |
| Relatives | William Hay (brother) Edward Hay (grandson) Alistair Hay (grandson) |
| Military career | |
| Commands | Grenadier Guards |
| Wars | World War I |
Lord Edward Douglas John HayDL (2 November 1888 – 18 June 1944) was a British soldier, at the time of his deathcommanding officer of theGrenadier Guards.
Hay saw active service in the First World War, after which he was posted on diplomatic missions. He was killed by a German V-1 flying bomb.
Born on 2 November 1888 inEast Lothian, Scotland,[1] Hay was the younger son ofWilliam Hay, 10th Marquess of Tweeddale, ofYester House,East Lothian, Hay was the brother and heir-presumptive of the11th Marquess.[2] He attendedLudgrove School.[3]
Hay saw active service in the1914–1918 War atGallipoli, and in Egypt and France.[4] He was at theParis Peace Conference from 1919 until it concluded in 1920. After that, as a Captain in the Grenadier Guards he was Staff Captain toGeneral Sir Edmund Ironside for Special Missions to Hungary and Romania,[5] then from 1921 to 1923 was Military Secretary toSir Herbert Samuel,High Commissioner for Palestine.[2]
Hay was also a member ofEssex County Council.[4] In 1938, he was appointed as aDeputy Lieutenant for Essex, and was then of Hill Hall,Theydon Mount.[6]
He was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in theEssex Regiment and then returned to the Grenadier Guards to command his old regiment.[4]
In 1917, Hay married firstly Violet Florence Catherine Barclay, known as Bridget, only daughter of Major Cameron Barclay. They had two children, Marioth Christina Hay (1918–2006) and David George Montagu Hay (1921–1979), later 12th Marquess of Tweeddale.[7] His first wife died on 17 March 1926.[4]
On 5 July 1928, Hay married secondly Audrey Clara Lilian Birkin, a younger daughter ofSir Thomas Latham, 1st Baronet. She was recently divorced fromSir Tim Birkin,Baronet, a racing driver, and Hay became the step-father of her two small daughters, Pamela and Sara.[7][8] Together they had a daughter, Caroline Susan Elizabeth Hay (1930–2020).[7]
On 12 June 1944, the Germans launchedOperationEisbär, a campaign ofV-1 flying bomb attacks on the London area.[9] On Sunday, 18 June, just after 11 a.m., a V-1 made a direct hit on theGuards Chapel, Wellington Barracks, during a service. This brought the chapel’s concrete roof down on top of the congregation, killing 121 people, with 141 seriously injured. The rubble within the chapel was ten feet deep in places.[10] When the roof collapsed, Hay was just walking back to his seat, after reading a lesson, and was among those killed.[11][12] He was buried inTheydon Mount, Essex.[1][13]
Hay’s widow married twice more. Firstly, in 1948, Niall Greville Chaplin, younger son ofEric Chaplin, 2nd Viscount Chaplin, from whom she was divorced in 1952,[7] and in December 1952Major General Sir Stewart Graham Menzies,Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service.[8][7]
Hay’s son,David Hay, succeeded as Marquess of Tweeddale in 1967. He married twice and had five children, the eldest of whom, born in 1947, was namedEdward Douglas John Hay, after his grandfather, and became 13th Marquess.[7]
