Challenge for Rick !

[Gordon Williamson]

Rick

As master of genealogy for this Forum, can you throw any more light on some of the members of the Wehrmacht with obvious Scottish roots. Specifically thinking of fighter aces Gordon MacGollob and Douglas Pitcairn of the Luftwaffe and a Kriegsmarine officer Korvettenkapit?n MacLean.

I've seen photos of the Luft guys, have you (or anyone else) ever seen one of MacLean ?

[landsknechte]

I seem to remember reading a reference somewhere to MacGollob being an Austrian, but that's about the extent of the light that I can shed on the subject.

--Chris

[Gordon Williamson]

Yes, he was Austrian. There are various stories about why the "Mac" part was dropped including one that G?ring wanted him to "Germanise" his name. If so, it didn't really work as his nickname amongst other pilots was always "Mac", so he went from Gordon MacGollob to Gordon "Mac " Gollob.

[Stogieman]

Well, isn't this a "Red Letter Day" The Master of The Tome(s) concedes immediate defeat!

[Les]

Rick

As master of genealogy for this Forum, can you throw any more light on some of the members of the Wehrmacht with obvious Scottish roots. Specifically thinking of fighter aces Gordon MacGollob and Douglas Pitcairn of the Luftwaffe and a Kriegsmarine officer Korvettenkapit?n MacLean.

I've seen photos of the Luft guys, have you (or anyone else) ever seen one of MacLean ?

←

The maternal side of the last Bavarian royals, theWittelsbach family is descended from Mary, former Queen of Scots. Kronprinz Rupprecht of Bavaria in 1914-1918 was an Army Group commander holding the line against another well-known Scot...Douglas Haig. Ruprrecht was one of the better German commanders and one of five recipients of the 1914 GKdEK.

Maybe Flanders in 1917 wouldn't have been so bloddy if there weren't two "Scottish" commanders facing each other? Does it take a Scot to beat a Scot ? javascript:emoticon('')

smilie

(There's a little humor in there somewhere.)

During the TR era, the Wittlesbachs were still in Germany, and although I can't put provide names without doing a little "Adelsforschung" of the family, there were probably more than a few that served in the Wehrmacht.

Regards,

Les

(new to this Forum, and a first post; welcomes -not- necessary)

[landsknechte]

Admittedly, as a historian, there's a gap in my studies that you could drive the period from the Thirty Years War to WWI through. While we may not be able to ferret out specific genealogical histories of these men, there may be an answer in looking at some general trends or events that may have landed Scots in Germany and Austria. Something along the lines of the French religious wars in the 16th century that scattered Hugenots to all sorts of random places...

As a side note, there was still a fairly sizable cultural divide during the mid 16th century between lowland and highland Scots. Obviously Gaelic-derived surnames (i.e. anything Mac) weren't all that well represented amongst the inner-circle of Mary Queen of Scots' court.

--Chris

Edited August 5, 2005 by landsknechte