Donald Wallace
RAF chaplain renowned for lively Burns Night renditions
THE REVEREND GROUP CAPTAIN DONALD WALLACE, who has died aged 92, served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War and was later ordained and had a long career in the RAF; he was appointed an honorary chaplain to the Queen in 1977.
Born on September 5 1925 in Edinburgh, he attended schools in the city before joining the Navy as soon as possible in 1943, training as an Asdic operator.
Wallace served in the destroyer Hotspur during the Battle of the Atlantic before transferring to the frigate Essington. After a period on anti-submarine duties in the Southwest Approaches, the frigate joined the 3rd Escort Group to support the Allied landings in Normandy, during which period it was involved in the sinking of the German U-boat U-988 west of Guernsey. In October 1944 it was assigned to escort the Arctic convoys, sailing from Loch Ewe to Murmansk and the Kola Peninsula. Wallace left the Navy as an able seaman in 1946.
After the war he read Theology at St Andrews University before joining the RAF as a Presbyterian chaplain in January 1951. He was posted to Aden, where his wide-flung parish covered much of the Middle East. It also took in Kenya during the Mau Mau campaign, which provided a challenge, tending to the spiritual and emotional needs of a dispersed congregation under the constant shadow of violence. He was part of the host retinue for Princess Elizabeth’s visit to Kenya in February 1952, when she received the news of her father’s death and her accession to the throne.
After appointments in Britain and in Germany, Wallace spent four years in Cyprus, where he built up a large and thriving congregation and founded a sub-aqua club. He led several search-and-rescue missions and an expedition to look for a rare Mediterranean seal for the National History Museum.
Four years at the RAF College, Cranwell, were followed by an appointment as assistant principal chaplain at the headquarters of Coastal Command. He served in a similar post in RAF Germany and later at the headquarters of Support Command, where he oversaw the Presbyterian chaplains serving on RAF stations abroad. His parish now extended from Hong Kong to Madagascar. On the long flights to these areas he became known for passing the time by sewing tapestries, which were known affectionately as “Donald’s darning”.
Wallace was made president of the RAF’S Sub-aqua Association and chairman of the Combined Services Boxing Association, having been a keen boxer in his youth.
After retiring from the RAF in 1980, he became a director and chaplain of the Royal Caledonian School and a governor of the Royal Scottish Corporation charity (now Scotscare). He also began a long association with Parmiter’s School in Hertfordshire, serving as honorary chaplain and chairman of the governors.
He enjoyed being chaplain to British Caledonian Airways, blessing aircraft as they entered service. Being chaplain to White Horse whisky led to pleasures of a different kind.
Wallace was a fine orator and renowned wit and he was much in demand as a speaker, his speciality being the Address to the Haggis on Burns Night, a role he performed annually for many years for the Scottish Bankers’ dinner: he was renowned for slicing the tops off flaming candles in strategically placed candelabra during the penultimate verse.
His service on the Russian convoys was recognised by the award of the Arctic Star and in 2016 the Russian government awarded him the Ushakov medal. A year later he was appointed to the Légion d’honneur for his service during the Allied landings in 1944.
Donald Wallace married Betty Clapp in 1955. She survives him with their son and daughter.