Colonel Sir Ronald Thomas Stewart Macpherson (4 October 1920 – 6 November 2014) was a highly decorated British Army officer during and after the Second World War. He fought with the No. 11 Commando unit and French Resistance forces, becoming infamous among Axis forces as the "Kilted Killer". He caused so much damage to enemy military infrastructure, a bounty of 300,000 francs was placed upon his head. Three times he received the Croix de Guerre, the Military Cross, and the Légion d'honneur.
Origins and education
Macpherson was born in Edinburgh. He was the youngest of seven children of Sir Thomas Stewart Macpherson CIE LLD and Helen, the daughter of the Reverend Archibald Borland Cameron. His father's brother was the first Baron Strathcarron and one of his own brothers, Niall, was also raised to the peerage as Baron Drumalbyn. Another brother was G. P. S. (Phil) Macpherson, captain of Scotland's first Grand Slam winning rugby side in 1925. The family originates from Newtonmore, in the Highlands, yet he was raised in the city.
His childhood home was Edgebrooke, in East Fettes Avenue, and he attended Edinburgh Academy prep school before Cargilfield, in Barnton. At 14, he went to Fettes College, where he joined the Officers' Training Corps. He also attended Trinity College, Oxford, where he was awarded a first class degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. He represented Oxford at rugby, hockey and athletics and was also an international student athlete, representing the UK in the 1500 Meters at the 1947 Universiade, the precursor of the World Student Games.
Military career
Macpherson was commissioned in the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders Territorial Army in 1939, before serving in No. 11 (Scottish) Commando in 1940–1941.
Macpherson was part of a four-man team sent to reconnoitre beaches in preparation for Operation Flipper, an attempted raid on the headquarters of Erwin Rommel, the famous German Field Marshal. In two canvas folboats, they waited at sea for their rendezvous with a submarine which was to return them to their base at Apollonia. After two nights, the submarine had not appeared and one boat was leaking, so the men decided to land again and make a final attempt in one boat, but in the end the weather was too bad. They then decided to walk to Tobruk, despite the fact they had no food, water or maps, and were dressed only in shorts. Captain Ratcliffe and Lieutenant Ravenscroft were captured on 2 November, Macpherson and Corporal Evans managed to hold out for another day before they too were captured by Italian forces near Derna. Interrogated by four army officers and six carabinieri, one asked MacPherson to demonstrate how his Colt Automatic worked, he did so "by putting in a spare magazine [he] still had, and then held the party up with the loaded weapon". Unfortunately, he then suffered a severe attack of cramp, and was recaptured and placed in solitary confinement. He made one further escape attempt before being taken to Italy in a destroyer, and held in a prisoner of war camp at Montalbo; here he made a further escape attempt, breaching the inner perimeter, but he could not find a way over the outer fence. In June 1942 he was moved to another camp at Gavi, near Genoa.