MacRobert's Reply, the book, is now on sale

Writing MacRobert's Reply was a remarkable experience, talking to Don Jeffs and reading Phil Jeffs' own research, but then digging further into the accounts of many other people of their experiences of war.

My research has taken me deeper into the MacRobert family story and I am indebted to Marion Miller for her remarkable work, From Cawnpore to Cromar: The MacRoberts of Douneside. I have looked deeper into XV Squadron and am indebted to Martyn Ford-Jones for the books he wrote, in particular Bomber Squadron: The men who flew with XV. and the archive he maintains. I have explored the story of the Stirling bomber and Jonathan Falconer’s book Stirling Wings. Anyone exploring Bomber Command during the Second World War would be the poorer had they not read Bomber Boys: Fighting back 1940-45 by Patrick Bishop or Bomber Command by Max Hastings. The administrative staff of XV squadron maintained detailed records of operations and the National Archives have digitised these and made them available. I am grateful to both but also specifically to the National Archive for the records of Lady MacRobert’s correspondence with the Air Ministry on which I have drawn extensively. Finally, I say thank you to the Imperial War Museum for making recordings of the recollections of veterans and to the veterans themselves for telling their stories.

My generation has been truly blessed not to have been confronted by such horrors.

We can though be proud of what our parents' generation did; we can also warn our children's generation of what war actually means.

The story of MacRobert's Reply is remarkable in so many ways. I do hope that your find reading it as rewarding as I did writing it.

The book is now available to buy on Amazon. You can find it by following this link and now also at Waterstones 

The book becoming a reality

Thanks to support in the shape of forward orders, MacRobert's Reply has been published in limited numbers. It should soon be available on Amazon. It would be very helpful if you could express interest by following this link

MacRobert’s Reply was the name given to the Stirling Bomber given to XV Squadron of RAF Bomber Command by a grieving mother in the early days of WW2.

This story of the MacRobert’s Reply takes as its central image the gift by Lady MacRobert. It delves into the tragic events that prompted such an unprecedented gift and the quite remarkable family from whence it came. It then follows the aircraft through its, or more accurately their short traumatic lives. The focus then shifts onto one man who amazingly survived the final, devastating crash. It records eye witness accounts of the events immediately following the crash. It then follows the sole survivor into captivity and, with the recollections of others similarly incarcerated, tries to offer an account of those lost years and the Long March back to freedom and ordinary life.

The story of the MacRobert's Reply

It is a story that has been told in fragments, but, when taken as a whole, becomes truly remarkable.

It begins in Aberdeen where a young Alexander MacRobert sets out for India to seek his fortune. His success comes in the shape of the British India Corporation.

Mac, as he is known, meets a young American, Rachel, from New England. She becomes his second wife and they have three sons.

In 1922 Mac is created Baronet of Cawnpore and Cromar. Later that year he dies. The eldest son, Alastair aged ten, succeeds to the title.

Tragedy strikes a further three times as each son is killed, the latter two in the service of the RAF.

Rachel gives them the means by which they can Reply, in the form of a Stirling Bomber which she hands to 15 Squadron.

The Bomber, call sign F for Freddie, is piloted first by Peter Boggis, who would make his career in the RAF, and then by 'Red' King.

The first MacRobert flew many operations but ended its day in a collision on the ground.

The MacRobert crest was transferred to another Stirling and this crashed tragically in Denmark killing eight crew members. The crash is remembered to this day by local Danish people who wished to show their thanks to the British bomber crew for supporting them in resisting the German occupation.

Radio operator, Don Jeffs, miraculously survived and spend his war as a PoW before undertaking and surviving the Long March home.

The MacRobert's Reply name was revived in 1982 by Peter Boggis and since then 15 Squadron has always flown a MacRobert's Reply F for Freddie.

Find out more about the book which has now been published and is available from Amazon 

The beginning

In my work on War on Wheels, I have found instances of individuals, groups and businesses raising money for the war effort. The MacRobert's Reply is more than one such instance, since it was substantial, enduring and told the story of great commitment by a grieving mother. The result today is the MacRobert Trust.

Put very briefly, Lady MacRobert lost all three of her sons in the early part of the war. Inspired by Spitfire Week, she gave to the RAF a cheque for £25,000 (£700,000 in today's money) to buy a Stirling Bomber.

The story that followed was about the young men who flew the aircraft and its successors. It is their story that I am now beginning to explore in collaboration with the son of one the surviving crew members, Donald Jeffs, and Story Terrace.