Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

An interesting group of three awarded to Lord Strathcarron, the ‘moustachioed motorcycling peer’ who served with the Royal Air Force from 1941 to 1947 and later spoke with authority on all things involving the motorcar and motorcycle; aided by the fact that he owned so many and had unparalleled firsthand experience

Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Coronation 1953 (Lord Strathcarron) privately engraved naming, mounted as worn with an Armed Forces Veteran badge attached to riband; together with the recipient’s related miniature awards, these similarly mounted; the recipient’s Institute of Road Transport Engineers large President’s Medal, silver-gilt and enamel, hallmarked London 1972, on full-length neck riband, unnamed; and the recipient’s Institute of Freight Forwarders Ltd. Past President’s neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel, privately engraved to reverse ‘The Rt. Hon. The Lord Strathcarron President 1974’, good very fine and better (5) £300-£400

David William Anthony Blyth Macpherson, 2nd Baron Strathcarron, was born on 23 January 1924 and was educated at Eton. He inherited the Barony upon his father’s death in 1937 and flew with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, reputedly serving with Coastal Command on reconnaissance and search-and-rescue missions over the Atlantic Ocean at the height of the U-Boat campaign. Demobilised in 1947, he continued to hold a private pilot license until the 1980s.

As a young man Strathcarron was fascinated with, and in awe of, the motor car; having been bought a Morgan Super Sport for his 16th birthday, he took up motor racing after leaving the R.A.F., driving vintage cars from his own collection including Alfa Romeos, Austin Healeys, Bentleys, Jensons and Rileys. Appointed Motoring Correspondent of The Field, he founded an automotive supplies business in 1960, and three years later wrote a fine account of his experiences in motor racing, titled Motoring for Pleasure. He later won the Lord’s versus Commons motor race at Brands Hatch in 2000, at the age of 76, further adding to his accolades by bagging the fastest lap.

During his time in the House of Lords, Strathcarron took an active interest in many motoring issues. As Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Motorcycling Group he took great pride in working with the Motor Cycle Industry Association to create a system of compulsory basic training for learner motorists, introduced in December 1990. It was further said that he usually voted with the Conservative Party, but barely spoke about politics. Outside of Parliament, Strathcarron busied himself as President of the Guild of Motoring Writers and was involved in the British Racing Drivers’ Club. He died on 31 August 2006, seven weeks after a motorcycling accident involving a dustcart; the Daily Telegraph later fondly described Strathcarron as ‘an engaging amalgam of Mr Punch, Bertie Wooster and Mr Toad.’

Sold with copied research and a hardback copy of Motoring for Pleasure, the inside page bearing Strathcarron’s signature and adding: ‘Beaulieu 1993., Written 1963.’