Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton

Air Commodore Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton and 11th Duke of Brandon, (3 February 1903 – 30 March 1973) was a Scottish nobleman and aviator who was the first man to fly over Mount Everest.

He was commissioned in the 602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron as a pilot officer on 4 July 1927, with subsequent and rapid promotions to flying officer (4 January 1929) and to flight lieutenant (15 January 1930).

He was a prominent Unionist Member of Parliament (MP) for East Renfrewshire from 1930 until in 1940 he succeeded to the peerages and joined the House of Lords.

Hamilton became interested in flying at an early age, and served in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF).

Styled Marquess of Clydesdale before he succeeded his father as the Duke of Hamilton and Keeper of Holyroodhouse, he was appointed as honorary colonel of the 7th (Blythswood) Battalion of the Highland Light Infantry in July 1931.

On 6 May 1931, aged 28, the Marquess became the youngest squadron leader of his day, commanding the squadron from 1931 to 1936.

He was involved in one of the more ambitious aeronautical flights of the early twentieth century, sponsored by Lucy, Lady Houston, the Houston-Mount Everest Flight Expedition.

Flying in formation higher than any before; Lord Clydesdale, as he was then known, was chief pilot on the first flight over Mount Everest in 1933, flying a Westland PV-3 biplane.

The extremity endured by the crews of these aeroplanes helped demonstrate the need for pressurised cabins in modern aircraft.

It was also the first detailed and scientific survey of the Himalaya region.

Indirectly, the expedition resulted in the formation of Scottish Aviation Ltd (now part of BAE Systems).

A documentary film, Wings over Everest, by Ivor Montagu and Geoffrey Barkas, was made of the record-setting flight and won a Hollywood Oscar Award in 1934.

In 1935, in order to experience the life of the employees in his family's coal mines, he worked for a time at the coal face as plain Mr. Hamilton, joining a Trades Union.

In recognition of his role in the expedition, he was decorated with the Air Force Cross in the 1935 New Year Honours.

As a pioneering early aviator, he was regarded in much the same heroic way as the astronauts a generation later.

He relinquished command of his squadron on 2 September 1936, receiving a promotion to wing commander.

Hamilton had attended the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.

A keen sportsman, he had flown his own plane to Germany where he was a member of a multi-party parliamentary group which had been invited to Berlin to observe the games by the German government.

In Berlin, he attended numerous functions, including a grand dinner for the British contingent hosted by Joachim von Ribbentrop, the German ambassador to Britain and later foreign minister, where he was introduced to Hitler and other leading members of the National Socialist government.

Hamilton had previously met Ribbentrop in London as the Ambassador to the Court of St. James's.

Hamilton was invited by Hermann Göring to inspect the newly reinstated Luftwaffe, for his professional interest in aviation.

He claimed not to have met Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess in Germany, although he attended a dinner party in Berlin that was also attended by Hess.

As both were highly competent pilots with an avid interest in aviation, there is speculation as to the reliability of his denial.

In Germany, Hamilton had met the geopolitician Albrecht Haushofer, the son of the distinguished geopolitical academic Karl Haushofer.

The younger Haushofer had studied alongside Hess at Munich University.

On Hess's rise to prominence within the Nazi Party, Haushofer became his advisor on foreign affairs.

There is speculation that Hess communicated with the Duke via Haushofer after the outbreak of war.

In 1940, upon his father's death, Hamilton succeeded to the dukedom.

As an RAF officer, he was also responsible for the aerial defence of his sector of Southern Scotland and Northern England and was Mentioned in Dispatches for his war service.

At the outbreak of war, he resumed his commission with the honorary rank of air commodore.

He was responsible for air defence in Scotland and took command of the Air Training Corps.

When German Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess made his surprise landing in Scotland in May 1941, he claimed to know Hamilton, who denied that, although both were believed to have met at the Berlin Olympics and had possibly remained in contact.

Hamilton was, however, declared in Parliament to be innocent of any breach of security.

Hamilton was born in Pimlico, London.

He was promoted to temporary group captain on 1 June 1941.

On 10 May 1941, Hess parachuted into Scotland; the reason for his doing so was ostensibly to meet with the Duke and to plot a secret peace treaty that would lead to the supremacy of Germany in Continental Europe and the reinforcement of the British Empire elsewhere.

Hess crash-landed at Floors Farm, near Eaglesham, at 10:34 pm and gave his name as "Alfred Horn", a friend of the Duke of Hamilton.

He was the son of Alfred Douglas-Hamilton, 13th Duke of Hamilton and his wife Nina (née Poore).

He was educated at Eton College and Balliol College, Oxford, where he gained a Blue in boxing and also rowed for the university.

He later gained the Scottish Amateur Middleweight boxing title.