Colonel Sir Alan Gomme Gomme-Duncan (5 July 1893 – 13 December 1963), born Alan Gomme Duncan, was a British Army officer who served in both World Wars; he was recalled to the army at the age of 45 in advance of Second World War. In a brief break in his career he was Inspector of Prisons for Scotland. After the liberation of Europe he went into politics and served for fourteen years as a Unionist Party Member of Parliament (MP) in Scotland, becoming known for humorous remarks combined with a lively partisanship.
Early life and First World War
Alan Gomme Duncan was the only son of Alfred Edward Duncan, and was sent to Merchant Taylors' School. At the outbreak of the First World War, Duncan joined the London Scottish, serving in France and Belgium. At the beginning of January 1917, while holding the rank of lieutenant (and temporary Captain), he was awarded the Military Cross. He was later transferred to the Black Watch for whom he served in Germany after the armistice and into 1919. During the war, Duncan was twice Mentioned in Despatches, and was also wounded in action. He ended the war with the substantive rank of captain.
Inter-war army career
After the end of the war, Duncan formed a business partnership with his father, who was a produce broker in the City of London. He married Mary Bourne on 2 April 1919 at Leavesden, Hertfordshire. However, Duncan, still an officer in the Black Watch, was posted to India later in 1919; he decided to remain in the army and not to pursue his business, and so the partnership with his father was dissolved on 1 July 1921.
In India, Duncan was a staff officer with the Western Command in Quetta from 1923 to 1927. He returned to Britain in 1927, and was a staff officer on the Northern Command based in York from 1929 to 1933. He returned to India in 1933 for four more years with the Black Watch, before retiring from the army, with the rank of major, in 1937. He moved to Bridge of Earn in Perthshire, and in 1938 he assumed by Authority the surname of Gomme-Duncan instead of Duncan.
Recall to the colours
On 1 November 1938 it was announced that Gomme-Duncan had been appointed HM Inspector of Prisons for Scotland. This was to be a brief appointment, for Gomme-Duncan was "recalled to the Colours" as a reservist in June 1939. He was appointed Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General at the War Office.
1940 saw Gomme-Duncan placed in command of the 70th Battalion of the Black Watch. In 1941 he was attached to the Royal Air Force, and in 1942 he became assistant adjutant-general at the War Office. Preparing for the invasion of France, Gomme-Duncan commanded 101 Reinforcement Group within 21 Army Group from 1943 to 1944; he went across to France with the Second Army, where he held a command in Normandy and also served in Belgium and the Netherlands. He finally left the army, as a colonel, in 1945.
Political career
For the 1945 general election, Gomme-Duncan was chosen as the Unionist Party candidate for Perth, which included his home at Bridge of Earn, and where the sitting member was retiring. Gomme-Duncan easily won election to the House of Commons, obtaining a majority of 10,867.
In November 1945 Gomme-Duncan seconded a motion calling on the Government to withdraw a proposal to build a hydro-electric scheme on a particularly picturesque highland lake; he asserted that Parliament should not be led by the Electricity Commissioners in deciding which schemes to progress, and urged the government to consult the people of Scotland. He opposed the Civil Aviation Bill, arguing that it abrogated the Treaty of Union which guaranteed Scotland freedom of navigation in England.
Indian independence
Gomme-Duncan spoke from experience in late 1946 when he opposed independence for India, contending that the Congress Party consisted of "moneylenders and landlords" who did not recognise their responsibilities to the peasants, while the British were the only people for 200 years who protected the "toiling masses". He also defended the landlord and tenant system in Scotland. He succeeded in May 1948 in getting a pledge from Secretary of State for War Emanuel Shinwell that the Highland regiments would once again be supplied with kilts.