Sir Max Aitken , 2nd Baronet Sir John William Maxwell " Max " Aitken , 2nd Baronet , DSO , DFC ( 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 . Born in Montreal , Aitken was educated at Westminster School and Pembroke College , Cambridge . A talented sportsman , he was a University blue at Soccer 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 . Military service . 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 June 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 February 1941 until January 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 Beaufighter s . 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 " . Post - war career . 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 . " Offshore powerboat racing . 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 . London International Boat Show . 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 . Family life . Aitken married three times : He succeeded his father as Baron Beaverbrook on the latter ' s death on 9 June 1964 , but disclaimed the title three days later on 12 June , 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 .