Noel Mason-MacFarlane

Lieutenant General Sir Frank Noel Mason-MacFarlane, KCB, DSO, MC (23 October 1889, Cookham - 12 August 1953, Twyford) was a British soldier, administrator and politician who served as Governor of Gibraltar during World War II.

Military career
'Mason-Mac' joined the Royal Artillery in 1909 and served in World War I on the Western Front and in Mesopotamia. He was awarded the Military Cross and the Distinguished Service Order. He served as Britain's military attaché to Berlin prior to World War II (and proposed the assassination of Hitler, an offer turned down by his superiors) as well as to Hungary, Austria, Switzerland and Denmark. He was Director of Military Intelligence with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in 1939-1940 and during the retreat to Dunkirk was operational commander of "Mac Force," an improvised formation covering the British right flank. From July 1940 to March 1941 Mason-Macfarlane was Second in Command of Gibraltar City and Garrison. This position allowed him to head the Joint Intelligence Centre. He was the head of a joint group of Army, Navy and RAF personnel whose role it would be to support General Franco if Spain were to be invaded by Germany. They were to assist the Spanish defence and, if the Spanish did not resist, then they were to create maximum damage.

He was next Head of the British Military Mission in Moscow, from 1941 until 1942. He then became General Officer Commanding 44th Division.

He was Governor of Gibraltar from 31 May 1942 to 14 February 1944, and witnessed the air crash there on 4 July 1943 which took the life of his friend the Polish Prime Minister Władysław Sikorski. He later served as Chief Commissioner of the Allied Control Commission for Italy in 1944, effectively head of the interim post-war government.

At the 1945 general election, Mason-Macfarlane was elected as a Labour Member of Parliament for Paddington North, defeating Churchill's close ally Brendan Bracken. He left parliament for ill-health reasons on 22 October 1946 by accepting the Chancellor of the Exchequer's appointment as Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead. This is a procedural device to effect resignation from the House of Commons, since members of the British House of Commons are not permitted to simply resign their seat, but are disbarred by holding an office of profit under the Crown.

It was reported in Time magazine on 24 August 1953 that "one of Britain's ablest soldier-administrators" had died of arthritis and complications from a broken leg.

Mason-Macfarlane's papers and correspondence are archived in the Imperial War Museum's Department of Documents.

Second Bar to Military Cross
While attached to Headquarters, 41st Divisional Artillery, he was awarded a second bar to his Military Cross. The citation reads as follows: "'While he was engaged on a reconnaissance another officer who was with him was severely wounded by a sniper. He removed him to a place of safety and also brought in a stretcher-bearer who was wounded by the same sniper. He then completed his reconnaissance and returned with valuable and accurate information.' "