MacColl, Rene., 1905-1971

Born on 12 January 1905 in Twickenham, the author and journalist, Rene MacColl, was the second son of Dugald Sutherland MacColl, Director of the Tate Gallery from 1906 to 1911, and his French wife Adree Zabe. MacColl was educated at University College School, London before attending Lincoln College, Oxford to read modern history. He left Oxford after 2 years without graduating and started working for the Antwerp branch of a British firm dealing in jute sacks. Following the firm's closure in December 1926, MacColl was introduced to Van-Lear Black, an American banker, industrialist and publisher of 'The Baltimore Sun', and was engaged as his confidential secretary. Having developed a passion for flying, Van-Lear hired a plane and two pilots from KLM and accompanied by MacColl, embarked on a series of experimental flights covering over 200,000 miles, including the first flight from London to Capetown and back again to be made by a commercial aircraft. In October 1927 MacColl was offered a job on the 'Baltimore Sun' as the paper's police and waterfront reporter. By the end of June 1928 he had met and married his first wife, Helen, and they went on to have two children. MacColl returned to England with his family in 1929 and became a foreign correspondent for the 'Daily Telegraph' where he reported on many of the significant events of the early 20th century, including: the Saar Plebiscite of 1935; Ghandi's civil disobedience movement in India in 1932; the wedding of King Zog in Albania in 1938; and the Spanish Civil War. At home he also reported on several royal occasions, including the silver jubilee of George V and the coronation of his son, George VI. With England on the verge of war, MacColl left the 'Daily Telegraph' and joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. From October 1939 until April 1940, MacColl was attached to the advanced air striking force of Bomber Command at Rheims and acted as liaison officer between the RAF and the press. In May of that year he was attached to the Air Component of the British Army at Arras before returning to England to undertake an attachment to Bomber Command headquarters in High Wycombe. He was seconded to the Ministry of Information in October 1940 and the following month was sent to New York to become Director of the British Press Service. By May 1941 he had been made the Director of the Press and Radio Division of the British Information Services. After the war he joined 'The Daily Express' as their Washington correspondent and remained in America until 1949. His first wife, Helen, died in 1945 and on 2 May 1946 he married Hermione Bruce. From 1949 until he was the Paris correspondent for the 'Daily Express', leaving in 1950 to become their American correspondent. In December 1952, MacColl returned to England to take up the position of foreign correspondent for the paper, becoming chief correspondent in 1959. His assignments included: interviewing Marshal Tito in Belgrade in 1953; a three month tour of the USSR in 1954 reporting from behind the Iron Curtain; accompanying Clement Attlee and various British Labout MP's on thier visit to China in 1954; covering various American presidential elections, including John. F. Kennedy's win in 1962; the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy; and the Vietnam War. MacColl finally retired in 1969, having spent forty years as a foreign correspondent. During his long career, MacColl also published several books, including: two autobiographies entitled 'A Flying Start (1939) and 'Date and Deadline' (1956); a biography of Roger Casement, the former British Consul hanged for treason in 1916 titled 'Roger Casement: a New Judgement (1956); a novel, 'No Idea' (1952); an account of his three months in Russia entitled 'Just Back from Russia: 77 Days Inside the Soviet Union' (1954); and a travel book entitled 'The Land of Ghengis Khan: a Journey on Outer Mongolia (1963). He also published a number of articles in both British and American magazines, including 'Punch', 'Life', 'The New Yorker', and 'The Atlantic Monthly'. He died on 20 May 1971 in Crowborough Hospital, Sussex.