Colin Hercules Mackenzie, CMG (1898–1986), a soldier, industrialist, and aesthete, was a

Special Operations Executive Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local Resistance during World War II, resistance movements during World War II. ...

spymaster who led

Force 136 Force 136 was a far eastern branch of the British World War II intelligence organisation, the Special Operations Executive (SOE). Originally set up in 1941 as the India Mission with the cover name of GSI(k), it absorbed what was left of SOE's O ...

throughout the period of its existence during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Origins

Mackenzie was the son of Major-General Sir

Colin Mackenzie Colonel Colin Mackenzie (1754–8 May 1821) was a Scottish army officer in the British East India Company who later became the first Surveyor General of India. He was a collector of antiquities and an orientalist and an indologist. He sur ...

and Ethel Ross, the daughter of Hercules Grey Ross ICS and granddaughter of the sportsman and photographer

Horatio Ross Horatio Ross (5 September 1801 – 6 December 1886) was a sportsman and a early photography, pioneer amateur photographer. Background and early life Ross was born at Rossie Castle, near Montrose, Angus on 5 September 1801, the son of Hercules ...

. Of Scottish ancestry on both sides of his family, he had the peripatetic childhood typical of many children of British Army officers.

Education

After

Summer Fields Summer Fields is a fee-paying boys' independent day and boarding preparatory school in Summertown, Oxford. It was originally called Summerfield and used to have a subsidiary school, Summerfields, St Leonards-on-Sea (known as "Summers mi"). ...

and

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England *Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States *Éton, a commune in the Meuse depa ...

(where he was a

King's Scholar A King's Scholar, abbreviated KS in the United Kingdom, is the recipient of a scholarship from a foundation created by, or under the auspices of, a British monarch. The scholarships are awarded at certain Public school (United Kingdom), public ...

), Mackenzie was commissioned into the

Scots Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot guards#United Kingdom, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642 in the Ki ...

and was badly wounded at the very end of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, undergoing a series of amputations of his leg in an ultimately successful battle against gangrene.Alan Ogden, ''Tigers Burning Bright: SOE Heroes in the Far East'' (Bene Factum Publishing, London, 2013), at pages 72 to 81 Following the war, Mackenzie went up to

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

. On informing the Provost that he had forgotten his Latin and proposed to read English, Mackenzie was told that "English is a grubby subject" and elected instead to read economics. His tutor was

John Maynard Keynes John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist and philosopher whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originall ...

and he graduated with a first-class degree, having also won the Chancellor's Medal for English Verse. He later maintained that Keynes's most useful advice to him had been: "If a book is worth buying at all, it is worth buying in red Morocco."

Between the wars

After Cambridge, Mackenzie worked for J. and P. Coats in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. He became a director and played a leading part in the company's global expansion, in particular into South America. In the 1920s he had an intense epistolary relationship with the writer

Iris Origo Dame Iris Margaret Origo, Marchesa Origo, Order of the British Empire, DBE (née Cutting; 15 August 1902 – 28 June 1988) was an English-born biographer and writer. She lived in Italy and devoted much of her life to improving the Tuscan estate ...

Spymaster

During the Second World War, at the suggestion of his friend

Lord Linlithgow Marquess of Linlithgow, in the County of Linlithgow or West Lothian, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 23 October 1902 for John Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun. The current holder of the title is Adrian Hope. Thi ...

, Mackenzie was appointed to set up a Far Eastern mission for

, which became known in due course as

. Unusually for senior SOE personnel, he remained in his post to the end of the war, despite the numerous political and other challenges that he faced. An official SOE report in 1944 recorded that:

No one can visit India without being impressed by Colin Mackenzie; by his exceptional grip on the working and personnel of his group; by his capacity to simplify and without delay go to the root of any problem; and by his remarkable sense of timing and diplomacy. The high regard in which he is held in SEAC, in GHQ India and in the Viceroy's Department is obvious. Not less impressive is the respect which all members of his group, scattered as it is all over India and China, have for his judgement; the faith they have in his capacity to produce the right solution for all problems; and the personal affection in which he is held.

By the end of the war, Mackenzie's command had expanded to the extent that he was responsible for 33,000 agents and auxiliaries in South East Asia.

Later years

After the war, Mackenzie was appointed to head the Economic Mission to Greece, but was prevented by ill health from taking up his post. He returned to J. and P. Coats, until retiring to the

Isle of Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some of ...

. Mackenzie, a knowledgeable collector of books, also served as Chairman of the Scottish committee of the

Arts Council An arts council is a government or private non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts; mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing arts events. They often operate at arms-length from the government to prevent pol ...

, in which capacity he did much to encourage the creation of the

Scottish Ballet Scottish Ballet is the national ballet company of Scotland and one of the five leading ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Northern Ballet. Founded in 1 ...

Family

In 1940, Mackenzie married Evelyn Clodagh Meade (1916–2001), the daughter of

Charles Francis Meade Charles Francis Meade (born 25 February 1881 – died 1975) was an English mountaineer and author. Early life Born in England, Meade was the only surviving child of the Hon. Sir Robert Henry Meade and Caroline Georgiana Grenfell. His mother di ...

and Aileen Hilda Brodrick. They had one daughter.''

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish genea ...

'', vol. 1 (2003), p. 797

Sources

* ''Who was Who'' (1981-1990)
Special Forces, Burma Star Association website.

External links

Imperial War Museum Interview from 1986
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackenzie, Colin Hercules 1898 births 1986 deaths Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George 20th-century Scottish businesspeople British Special Operations Executive personnel Scots Guards officers British Army personnel of World War I People educated at Eton College People educated at Summer Fields School Alumni of King's College, Cambridge