David Mercer MacDougall (; 8 December 1904 – 13 May 1991) was a Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong between 1945 and 1949. In 1928, while a Cadet Officer, MacDougall was seconded to the

Colonial Office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created in 1768 from the Southern Department to deal with colonial affairs in North America (particularly the Thirteen Colo ...

, and posted to Hong Kong. By 1941 he was part of the Ministry of Information (MoI) in Hong Kong. The

Chinese Nationalists The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the sole ruling party of the country during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until its relocation to Taiwan, and in Taiwan ruled under ...

had worked undercover with the British Police and Intelligence Services since the Japanese invasion of Southern China in 1938, running a network of Nationalist agents which Admiral Chan Chak had operated. These helped in keeping the local Chinese population on-side, controlling the Triad gangs and identifying Japanese sympathisers. During the

Battle of Hong Kong The Battle of Hong Kong (8–25 December 1941), also known as the Defence of Hong Kong and the Fall of Hong Kong, was one of the first battles of the Pacific War in World War II. On the same morning as the attack on Pearl Harbor, forces of the ...

he worked directly with Admiral Chan Chak who had been brought in to assist in matters of the Chinese public morale and civil order within the British colony. MacDougall and Chan were among a total of sixty eight British, Chinese and Danish intelligence, naval and marine personnel saved from the

Japanese occupation of Hong Kong The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began when the governor of Hong Kong, Mark Aitchison Young, surrendered the British Crown colony of British Hong Kong, Hong Kong to the Empire of Japan on 25 December 1941. His surrender occurred after Batt ...

by a dramatic break-out in five small torpedo boats on Christmas Day 1941. Eventually making it to

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

, MacDougall then travelled on to

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

. MacDougall was put in charge of the Hong Kong Planning Unit in London in September 1944, charged with preparing for the return of Hong Kong to the UK when the war ended. After Japan surrendered on 15 August 1945 McDougall arrived back in Hong Kong on 7 September 1945 as Chief Civil Affairs Officer with the rank of Brigadier. He had responsibility for Civil Administration, reporting to Admiral Sir Cecil Harcourt who was appointed Commander-in-Chief. MacDougall witnessed the Japanese surrender to Admiral Harcourt in Government House on 16 September. Civilian rule in Hong Kong was reestablished under Governor Sir Mark Young on 1 May 1946 at which time McDougall became Colonial Secretary reporting to Young. When Young retired, MacDougall served briefly as acting Governor from May 1947 – 25 July 1947. Chan Chak likewise became Mayor of

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative divisions * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and entertainment * Canton (band), an It ...

after the war. He died six weeks before the city fell to Communist forces in 1949. After his retirement from the Colonial Service in 1949, MacDougall farmed in Suffolk until the late 1960s. Thereafter he divided his time between East Anglia and Scotland. He died in

Strathtay Strathtay is a small rural village on the River Tay in Perthshire, Scotland. It is part of the Grandtully and Strathtay Conservation Area. Neighbouring Grandtully is situated on the other side of the Tay, across Grandtully Bridge. Strathtay is a ...

, near his home town of

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, in May 1991 at the age of 86.

References

Chief secretaries of Hong Kong 1904 births 1991 deaths {{HongKong-gov-bio-stub