Alan Fleming McGlashan, MC (20 October 1898 in

Bedworth Bedworth ( or locally ) is a market town in the borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth, Warwickshire, England.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : It is situated between Coventry, 6 miles (9.5 km) to the south, and Nuneaton, to th ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

– 6 May 1997 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

) was a British pilot and doctor. His father was a medical doctor in General Practice. McGlashan joined the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

in 1916, later the RAF. After constantly flying over

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

lines, he was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

(MiD), awarded the MC and the

Croix de Guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...

with Palm, the citation reading, ''He has accomplished all his missions with the greatest devotion, and on many occasions has succeeded in reconnaissance at very low altitude in perilous conditions under violent enemy fire.'' McGlashan was educated at

Epsom College Epsom College is a co-educational independent school on Epsom Downs, Surrey, England, for pupils aged 11 to 18. It was founded in 1853 as a benevolent institution which provided a boarding school education for sons of poor or deceased members ...

. The student exhibition he won to

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...

, had been deferred to 1918 (B.A. 1921). He trained for the medical profession at

St George's Hospital St George's Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Tooting, London. Founded in 1733, it is one of the UK's largest teaching hospitals. It is run by the St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It shares its main hospital site i ...

(MRCS and LRCP 1924). After qualifying, he joined a tramp steamer as ship's surgeon. He also worked as a drama critic for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' and ''

News Chronicle The ''News Chronicle'' was a British daily newspaper. Formed by the merger of '' The Daily News'' and the '' Daily Chronicle'' in 1930, it ceased publication on 17 October 1960,''Liberal Democrat News'' 15 October 2010, accessed 15 October 2010 b ...

''. After joining his father in general practice, he trained at the

Maudsley Hospital The Maudsley Hospital is a British psychiatric hospital in south London. The Maudsley is the largest mental health training institution in the UK. It is part of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and works in partnership with the I ...

and the

Tavistock Clinic The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health trust based in north London. The Trust specialises in talking therapies. The education and training department caters for 2,000 students a year from the United Kin ...

, qualifying as a consultant psychiatrist (D.P.M.) in 1940. Later, after meeting

C.G. Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and psychologist who founded the school of analytical psychology. A prolific author of over 20 books, illustrator, and correspondent, Jung was a c ...

and reading his works, McGlashan, though eclectic in his work, leaned strongly towards

Jungian analysis Analytical psychology (, sometimes translated as analytic psychology; also Jungian analysis) is a term referring to the psychology, psychological practices of Carl Jung. It was designed to distinguish it from Freud's psychoanalytic theories ...

. Between 1941 and 1945 McGlashan was consulting psychiatrist on the

War Office Selection Boards War Office Selection Boards, or WOSBs, (pronounced Wosbees) were a scheme devised by British Army psychiatrists during World War II to select potential officers for the British Army. They replaced an earlier method, the Command Interview Board, an ...

. He was a member of the psychiatric staff at

, the

and the West End Hospital; his private practice was for many years in

Wimpole Street Wimpole Street is a street in Marylebone, central London. Located in the City of Westminster, it is associated with private medical practice and medical associations. No. 1 Wimpole Street is an example of Edwardian architecture, Edwardian baroq ...

, and later at his home. His patients included

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, a ...

and, as she would become,

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William, ...

. In 1934 he married Hilda Cameron-Smith (died 1975), and in 1979 he married Sasha Baldi.

Laurens van der Post Sir Laurens Jan van der Post, (13 December 1906 – 15 December 1996) was a South African Afrikaner writer, farmer, soldier, educator, journalist, humanitarian, philosopher, explorer and conservationist. He was noted for his interest in Jungi ...

and

Arthur Koestler Arthur Koestler (, ; ; ; 5 September 1905 – 1 March 1983) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian-born author and journalist. Koestler was born in Budapest, and was educated in Austria, apart from his early school years. In 1931, Koestler j ...

were close friends. He died in London on 6 May 1997, aged 98.

Interests

McGlashan's interests included flying gliders, ballooning, tennis, and bridge.

References

Writings

*''The Savage and Beautiful Country'', Chatto & Windus 1966, Houghton 1967. Expanded edition Daimon Publishers 1988, *''Gravity and Levity'', Chatto 1975, Houghton 1976. Expanded edition Daimon Publishers 1994, *''The Freud/Jung Letters'' – abridged with preface by A. McGlashan 1979, *''St. George & the Dragon'', Selwyn Blunt 1931 *Contributor to ''Suicide of a Nation'', ed. Arthur Koestler 1963 *Contributions to ''Lancet'', ''Listener'', ''Encounter'', ''Réalités'', ''Parabola'', ''Harvest'', four of the ''Take-Home Books'', Pergamon Press 1964–70 *Contribution 'How to be Haveable' to ''The Rock Rabbit and the Rainbow'', editor Robert Hinshaw, Daimon Publishers 1998, *''The Times'' 24 September 1983 p. 8: 'Treat the Patient as a Person' {{DEFAULTSORT:McGlashan, Alan 1898 births 1997 deaths British theatre critics British Army personnel of World War I Royal Air Force personnel of World War I British writers 20th-century English medical doctors English people of Scottish descent British recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Royal Flying Corps officers Royal Air Force officers Recipients of the Military Cross British psychotherapists Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge People educated at Epsom College Royal Army Medical Corps officers British Army personnel of World War II