page_title: Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton
section_title: Second World War, the Hess Affair, and after
hierarchical_section_title: Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton / Second World War, the Hess Affair, and after
caption_attribution_description: The wreckage of Rudolf Hess' Messerschmitt Bf 110D "VJ+OQ", Werk Nr 3869, after crashing at Bonnyton Moor, Scotland, on May 10th, 1941.
context_page_description: Air Commodore Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton and 11th Duke of Brandon, KT, GCVO, AFC, PC, DL, FRCSE, FRGS was a Scottish nobleman and aviator who, together with D.F. McIntyre, was one of the first men to fly over Mount Everest.
context_section_description: 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. It has been suggested that Hamilton either through his own initiative or under instruction indulged in some minor espionage during these occasions. He claimed not to have met the deputy Führer Rudolf Hess while in Germany, although did attend a dinner party in Berlin also attended by the deputy Führer. As both were highly competent pilots with an avid interest in aviation, there is speculation as to the reliability of this assertion.
  Whilst in Germany Hamilton had met the geopolitician Albrecht Haushofer, 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 deputy Führer Rudolf 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 the Second World 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. He was promoted to temporary group captain on 1 June 1941.
caption: Wreckage of Hess' plane, Eaglesham, Scotland
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