Background
Born the son of William Holdsworth McConnel, a naval officer, and Florence Emma (née Bannister). He was born with a twin brother, George Malcolm, who died in 1908.
Born the son of William Holdsworth McConnel, a naval officer, and Florence Emma (née Bannister). He was born with a twin brother, George Malcolm, who died in 1908.
Douglas was educated at Winchester College and then entered the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.
He played in the Association Football XI in 1910-1911 and the Lord"s XI in 1911. McConnel was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1912. He served in the First World War after which he became a staff captain at the School of Artillery in 1920.
He went on to be Officer Commanding the Gentlemen Cadets at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich later that year, a General Staff Officer at the Royal Army Service Corps Training Centre in 1933 and a General Staff Officer at the Staff College, Camberley in 1936.
He served in the Second World War, initially as a General Staff Officer in Mandatory Palestine and Transport-Jordan and then from 1941, as General Officer Commanding British Troops in Palestine and Transport-Jordan. After the War he became General Officer Commanding Lowland District in Scotland before retiring in 1947.
McConnel lived at Knockdolian near Gillemichael in Ayrshire. They had one daughter, Diana, who became the Duchess of Wellington.