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CPT John William Maxwell “Max” Aitken

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CPT John William Maxwell “Max” Aitken

Birth
Montreal, Montreal Region, Quebec, Canada
Death
30 Apr 1985 (aged 75)
London, City of London, Greater London, England
Burial
Cremated, Ashes scattered at sea. Specifically: off Cowes on the Isle of Wight Add to Map
Memorial ID
View Source
Sir John William Maxwell "Max" Aitken, 2nd Baronet, RAF G/C DSO, DFC, MiD Czech Military Medal(15 February 1910 – 30 April 1985), formerly 2nd Baron Beaverbrook, was a British Conservative politician and press baron, the son of Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook.
Dutch: John William Maxwell Aitken, Sir

Aitken was b.Montreal 15 Feb 1910 to Max Aitken (later Lord Beaverbrook). He was educated at Westminster School and Pembroke College, Cambridge. A talented sportsman, he was a University blue at football and a scratch golfer. A keen flyer, he spent some time in the thirties flying throughout Europe and the USA. He joined the Royal Auxiliary Air Force in 1935.

Aitken served as a Bristol Blenheim and then a Hawker Hurricane pilot with No. 601 Squadron RAF during the early part of World War II, becoming CO in Jun 1940, earning the Distinguished Service Order and Distinguished Flying Cross, for eight combat claims. Leaving the Squadron on 20 July 1940, he then served as CO of No. 68 Squadron RAF, a night fighter unit, from Feb 1941 until Jan 1943, claiming four night victories.

Serving in the Middle East during the middle war years as Wing Commander, although he was officially non-operational, he managed to shoot down two Junkers Ju 52 aircraft while flying with No. 46 Squadron RAF in Beaufighters.

Aitken became Wing Leader of the Banff Strike Wing (RAF Coastal Command) in 1944. He reached the rank of Group Captain, achieving 14 and one shared aircraft claimed shot down. He did some of his early flying training with Richard Hillary, to whom he was known as Bill, and featured in his book The Last Enemy.

In 1946, he entered the family newspaper business, as a director of the Express Group, and would become Chairman of Beaverbrook Newspapers Ltd. At the 1945 general election, Aitken was elected Member of Parliament for Holborn with a majority of 925.

Unfavourable boundary changes meant that the Labour Party took the successor seat in 1950 comfortably and Aitken did not stand at that or subsequent elections. He also served as Chancellor of the University of New Brunswick.

He appears in the famous World War II documentary 'The World at War' giving a variety of interviews, including the episode 'Alone in Britain.'

In the late 1950s, Aitken witnessed one of the early Miami Nassau Offshore Powerboat Races, then participated in the following year with his wife, Lady Violet. It was the experience of this new "sport" that led to his announcement at the 1961 London Boat Show of a similar ocean race to be staged in the south of England in August that year.

Together with John Coote they formulated the rules that saw the birth of the Cowes Torquay Offshore Powerboat Race, with the aim of improving the breed of sea-going fast cruisers and safety at sea. The Cowes Torquay will celebrate in 2010 the 50th year since Aitken founded it.

Aitken, with the sponsorship of his newspaper the Daily Express, helped to found the London International Boat Show in 1954 at the Empire Hall, Olympia.

Aitken married three times:
m1.1939 Cynthia Helen Glencairn Monteith b.1916, daughter of Colonel H.G. Monteith DSO OBE (1939–1944) divorced
m2. 1946 Ursula Jane Compton Kenyon-Slaney b.15 Jan 1920 d.7 Apr 2012 (92) Ripon, North Yorkshire, UK daughter of Captain Robert Orlando Rudolph Kenyon-Slaney by his wife, Lady Mary Gilmour (1946–1950) (divorced) two daughters (Kirsty and Lynda)
3) m.1 Jan 1951 Violet de Trafford, daughter of Sir Humphrey de Trafford (1951–30 Apr 1985) a son and a daughter (Maxwell and Laura)

He succeeded his father as Baron Beaverbrook on the latter's death on 9 Jun 1964, but disclaimed the title three days later on 12 Jun, stating that "there shall only be one Lord Beaverbrook in my lifetime". On his death in 1985, his son, also Max Aitken, took on the title. Maxwell William Humphrey Aitken, 3rd Baron Beaverbrook (b.29 Dec 1951) is a British peer and politician. (Father of Charlotte Susanna Aitken)
Maxwell Aitken is the grandson of the 1st Baron Beaverbrook and the only son of Sir Max Aitken, by his third marriage to Violet de Trafford. He was educated at Charterhouse and Pembroke College, Cambridge and the Royal College of Defence Studies.

Maxwell William Humphrey Aitken, 3rd Baron Beaverbrook b.29 Dec 1951 m.19 Jul 1974 Susan Angela More O'Ferrall, grandd/o Sir Henry Mather-Jackson, 6th Bt. d/o Francis Joseph More O'Farrell & Angela Mary Mather-Jackson
They have 4 children:
1 Hon. Maxwell Francis Aitken b.17 Mar 1977 m.9 Nov 2007 Inés Nieto Gómez-Valencia two children.
1a Giuletta Ines Susanna Aitken b.1 Dec 2011
1b Maxwell Alfonso Aitken b.16 Dec 2014
2 Hon. Alexander Rory Aitken b.1978 m.10 Feb 2007 Alexandra Meredyth Anne Proby d/o Sir William Henry Proby, 3rd Bt & Meredyth Anne Brentnall; 2 daughters
3 Hon. Charlotte Susanna Aitken b.1982 m.2011 in London Charles Bowmont, The Marquees of Bowmont and Cessford separation announced 10 Jun 2012
4 Hon. Sophia Violet Angela Aitken (1985) m.23 Apr 2016 Marchese Ugolino Bourbon di Petrella.

one ref: http://dcodriscoll.pbworks.com/w/page/9954993/Aitken_(I)
http://acesofww2.com/can/aces/aitken/

https://www.genealogy.com/ftm/k/o/s/Janice-Fuller-MA/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0331.html

A Beaverbrook Back in Lords

13 May 1985 - AFTER an absence of 21 years, a Lord Beaverbrook, is to take his place in the House of Lords. The Hon Maxwell Aitken announced yesterday that, unlike his father, he would not be renouncing the peerage and plans to take the Government Whip in the Lords.
The new Lord Beaverbrook, 33, yesterday scattered the ashes of his father Sir Max Aitken, off Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Sir Max, who died last month, had renounced the title in 1964. The peerage had been granted in 1917 to his father, the Express Newspaper magnate.

Ex-husband of Cynthia Helen Glencairn Monteith and
Ursula Jane Compton d/o Robert Orlando Rudolph Kenyon-Slaney and Mary Cecilia Rhodesia Gilmour
Wife of Robert Edward John Compton
Ex-wife of David Ludovic Peter Lindsay and Sir John William Maxwell Aitken, 2nd Baronet
Sir John William Maxwell "Max" Aitken, 2nd Baronet, RAF G/C DSO, DFC, MiD Czech Military Medal(15 February 1910 – 30 April 1985), formerly 2nd Baron Beaverbrook, was a British Conservative politician and press baron, the son of Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook.
Dutch: John William Maxwell Aitken, Sir

Aitken was b.Montreal 15 Feb 1910 to Max Aitken (later Lord Beaverbrook). He was educated at Westminster School and Pembroke College, Cambridge. A talented sportsman, he was a University blue at football and a scratch golfer. A keen flyer, he spent some time in the thirties flying throughout Europe and the USA. He joined the Royal Auxiliary Air Force in 1935.

Aitken served as a Bristol Blenheim and then a Hawker Hurricane pilot with No. 601 Squadron RAF during the early part of World War II, becoming CO in Jun 1940, earning the Distinguished Service Order and Distinguished Flying Cross, for eight combat claims. Leaving the Squadron on 20 July 1940, he then served as CO of No. 68 Squadron RAF, a night fighter unit, from Feb 1941 until Jan 1943, claiming four night victories.

Serving in the Middle East during the middle war years as Wing Commander, although he was officially non-operational, he managed to shoot down two Junkers Ju 52 aircraft while flying with No. 46 Squadron RAF in Beaufighters.

Aitken became Wing Leader of the Banff Strike Wing (RAF Coastal Command) in 1944. He reached the rank of Group Captain, achieving 14 and one shared aircraft claimed shot down. He did some of his early flying training with Richard Hillary, to whom he was known as Bill, and featured in his book The Last Enemy.

In 1946, he entered the family newspaper business, as a director of the Express Group, and would become Chairman of Beaverbrook Newspapers Ltd. At the 1945 general election, Aitken was elected Member of Parliament for Holborn with a majority of 925.

Unfavourable boundary changes meant that the Labour Party took the successor seat in 1950 comfortably and Aitken did not stand at that or subsequent elections. He also served as Chancellor of the University of New Brunswick.

He appears in the famous World War II documentary 'The World at War' giving a variety of interviews, including the episode 'Alone in Britain.'

In the late 1950s, Aitken witnessed one of the early Miami Nassau Offshore Powerboat Races, then participated in the following year with his wife, Lady Violet. It was the experience of this new "sport" that led to his announcement at the 1961 London Boat Show of a similar ocean race to be staged in the south of England in August that year.

Together with John Coote they formulated the rules that saw the birth of the Cowes Torquay Offshore Powerboat Race, with the aim of improving the breed of sea-going fast cruisers and safety at sea. The Cowes Torquay will celebrate in 2010 the 50th year since Aitken founded it.

Aitken, with the sponsorship of his newspaper the Daily Express, helped to found the London International Boat Show in 1954 at the Empire Hall, Olympia.

Aitken married three times:
m1.1939 Cynthia Helen Glencairn Monteith b.1916, daughter of Colonel H.G. Monteith DSO OBE (1939–1944) divorced
m2. 1946 Ursula Jane Compton Kenyon-Slaney b.15 Jan 1920 d.7 Apr 2012 (92) Ripon, North Yorkshire, UK daughter of Captain Robert Orlando Rudolph Kenyon-Slaney by his wife, Lady Mary Gilmour (1946–1950) (divorced) two daughters (Kirsty and Lynda)
3) m.1 Jan 1951 Violet de Trafford, daughter of Sir Humphrey de Trafford (1951–30 Apr 1985) a son and a daughter (Maxwell and Laura)

He succeeded his father as Baron Beaverbrook on the latter's death on 9 Jun 1964, but disclaimed the title three days later on 12 Jun, stating that "there shall only be one Lord Beaverbrook in my lifetime". On his death in 1985, his son, also Max Aitken, took on the title. Maxwell William Humphrey Aitken, 3rd Baron Beaverbrook (b.29 Dec 1951) is a British peer and politician. (Father of Charlotte Susanna Aitken)
Maxwell Aitken is the grandson of the 1st Baron Beaverbrook and the only son of Sir Max Aitken, by his third marriage to Violet de Trafford. He was educated at Charterhouse and Pembroke College, Cambridge and the Royal College of Defence Studies.

Maxwell William Humphrey Aitken, 3rd Baron Beaverbrook b.29 Dec 1951 m.19 Jul 1974 Susan Angela More O'Ferrall, grandd/o Sir Henry Mather-Jackson, 6th Bt. d/o Francis Joseph More O'Farrell & Angela Mary Mather-Jackson
They have 4 children:
1 Hon. Maxwell Francis Aitken b.17 Mar 1977 m.9 Nov 2007 Inés Nieto Gómez-Valencia two children.
1a Giuletta Ines Susanna Aitken b.1 Dec 2011
1b Maxwell Alfonso Aitken b.16 Dec 2014
2 Hon. Alexander Rory Aitken b.1978 m.10 Feb 2007 Alexandra Meredyth Anne Proby d/o Sir William Henry Proby, 3rd Bt & Meredyth Anne Brentnall; 2 daughters
3 Hon. Charlotte Susanna Aitken b.1982 m.2011 in London Charles Bowmont, The Marquees of Bowmont and Cessford separation announced 10 Jun 2012
4 Hon. Sophia Violet Angela Aitken (1985) m.23 Apr 2016 Marchese Ugolino Bourbon di Petrella.

one ref: http://dcodriscoll.pbworks.com/w/page/9954993/Aitken_(I)
http://acesofww2.com/can/aces/aitken/

https://www.genealogy.com/ftm/k/o/s/Janice-Fuller-MA/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0331.html

A Beaverbrook Back in Lords

13 May 1985 - AFTER an absence of 21 years, a Lord Beaverbrook, is to take his place in the House of Lords. The Hon Maxwell Aitken announced yesterday that, unlike his father, he would not be renouncing the peerage and plans to take the Government Whip in the Lords.
The new Lord Beaverbrook, 33, yesterday scattered the ashes of his father Sir Max Aitken, off Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Sir Max, who died last month, had renounced the title in 1964. The peerage had been granted in 1917 to his father, the Express Newspaper magnate.

Ex-husband of Cynthia Helen Glencairn Monteith and
Ursula Jane Compton d/o Robert Orlando Rudolph Kenyon-Slaney and Mary Cecilia Rhodesia Gilmour
Wife of Robert Edward John Compton
Ex-wife of David Ludovic Peter Lindsay and Sir John William Maxwell Aitken, 2nd Baronet

Gravesite Details

May 12 1985 ashes scattered at Sea off Cowes on the Isle of Wight



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