Kenneth Stuart MacGregor

Born in 1922  - Carraburn, Inchberry, Parish of Rothes to David MacGregor and Mary McKenzie Dean

Known as Stuart he married Eunice H M Petts in 1948, in Oban.

His father David and family lived at Carraburn, a small holding, where he farmed. The family then moved to Doune, where David worked for Lord Doune as a forester. The area is heavily wooded and growing up there, Stuart would have had an in-depth knowledge of the area. A railway line passed to the east of the area.

It is likely, Stuart went to Inchberry School which was close by.

He was a very gentle/quiet man and didn't talk about his own experiences very much.

He was sent white feathers during the war and hid his gun under his bed - the only person who knew what he was up to was his father, a farmer and potentially an earlier member of the Patrol.  At recruitment he remembers being gathered with others, especially lots of gamekeepers.

He did training in England (might have mentioned Herefordshire but might have been Coleshill). Got into trouble whilst training was captured by regulars when testing defences and they didn't know anything about him and thought he was a German (he had a broad Scottish accent apparently) - searched him and locked him up - they didn't discover is FS knife in his boot and he managed to escape - he got told off for escaping and not waiting to be released!

He also mentioned he was given a cyanide pill to take if captured. He also mentioned underground 'tunnels' with supplies and food.

It appears Stuart joined the SAS/SOE/Special forces - he talked about his time in Norway and France in 1944. He didn't trust the Maquis at all (too many were collaborators he thought). He was asked whether he had killed a German, a question he side-stepped. 

He mentioned being in a team of 4/6 each with specific skills such as medical/comms/sabotage/assassination - this might be Auxiliary Units. There was already a Doctor in the Patrol, but equally this fits with SAS etc. He also specifically mentioned Paddy Mayne.

He suffered from epilepsy after the war which he put down to the fact he was smashed in the head by a rifle butt. He didn't say who by, and at a guess it might relate to being 'captured' whilst with the Auxiliary Units.

He said he was a Private but that was the equivalent of a Sergeant in the 'regulars'.

His daughter Elaine recalls; "Dad was always known as Stuart.  I believe he went into some form of covert unit after being demobbed from the Aux Unit. I think it was the SAS but have had no joy tracking any more information than that. I know he was under cover abroad and he always said he'd been disappointed that he didn't get to see South Africa (although his plane landed at Johannesburg but they weren't allowed off)! I believe he was in France and possibly Norway. I also know that he was sent white feathers because 'he wasn't in the army'.

Before the war he was training to be an architect; however, after the war, he couldn't face being inside all the time, so he retrained as a Quantity Surveyor. He eventually moved the family down to near York, where he was employed by Shepherd Building Group. Whilst working for them, he eventually ended up as General Manager of Shepherds Construction. He oversaw the building of York University, and was also responsible for overseeing the restoration of York Minster. He was offered directorship, but turned it down because he felt his ill health would not allow him to do the job the way he would have wanted to. He was quite a man!  He died very young... at the age of 59; he had emphysema. 

Stuart died in Harrogate, North Yorkshire in 1982.