David Mercer MacDougall

David Mercer MacDougall (Chinese: 麥道高; 1904-1991) was a Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong between 1945 and 1949.

In 1928, while a Cadet Officer, MacDougall was seconded to the Colonial Office, and posted to Hong Kong. By 1941 he was part of the Ministry of Information (MoI) in Hong Kong. The Chinese Nationalists had worked undercover with the British Police and Intelligence Services since the Japanese invasion of Southern China in 1938, running a network of Nationalist agents which Admiral Chan Chak had operated. These helped in keeping the local Chinese population on-side, controlling the Triad gangs and identifying Japanese sympathisers. During the Battle of Hong Kong he worked directly with Admiral Chan Chak who had been brought in to assist in matters of the Chinese public morale and civil order within the British colony. After an 18-day defence Hong Kong fell on Christmas Day, 1941. In the final hours Chan Chak and MacDougall with sixty-five British, Chinese and Danish intelligence, naval and marine personnel made a dramatic breakout in five small torpedo boats from the invading army. Though wounded they succeeded in escaping through Japanese-occupied territory, eventually making it to Chungking. MacDougall travelled on to Burma from there.

MacDougall arrived back in Hong Kong on 7 September 1945 as Brigadier Colonial Secretary with responsibility for Civil Administration and witnessed the surrender to Admiral Harcourt in Government House on 16 September. He served as acting Governor from May 1947 - 25 Jul 1947. Chan Chak likewise became Mayor of Canton after the war. He died six weeks before the city fell to Communists forces in 1949.

After his retirement from the Colonial Service in 1949, he farmed in Suffolk until the late 1960s. Thereafter he divided his time between East Anglia and Scotland. He died in Strathtay, near his home town of Perth, in May 1991 at the age of 86.

See also

• List of heads of Hong Kong by education