In 1945, in the Far East theatre, MacLean and Royalist saw action escorting carrier groups in operations against Japanese targets in Burma, Malaya, and Sumatra.
During this time MacLean may have been injured in a gunnery practice accident. In 1944 he and Royalist served in the Mediterranean theatre, as part of the invasion of southern France and in helping to sink blockade runners off Crete and bombard Milos in the Aegean. He took part in Convoy PQ 17 on Royalist. There he saw action in 1943 in the Atlantic theatre, on two Arctic convoys and escorting aircraft carrier groups in operations against Tirpitz and other targets off the Norwegian coast. Beginning in 1943, he served on HMS Royalist, a Dido-class light cruiser. He was first assigned to PS Bournemouth Queen, a converted excursion ship fitted for anti-aircraft guns, on duty off the coasts of England and Scotland. In 1941, at the age of 19, he was called up to fight in the Second World War with the Royal Navy, serving with the ranks of Ordinary Seaman, Able Seaman, and Leading Torpedo Operator. Critics deplored his cardboard characters and vapid females, but readers loved his combination of hot macho action, wartime commando sagas, and exotic settings that included Greek Islands and Alaskan oil fields." Early life Īlistair Stuart Maclean was born on 21 April 1922 in Shettleston, Glasgow, the third of four sons of a Church of Scotland minister, but spent much of his childhood and youth in Daviot, 10 miles (16 km) south of Inverness. Īccording to one obituary, "he never lost his love for the sea, his talent for portraying good Brits against bad Germans, or his penchant for high melodrama. His books are estimated to have sold over 150 million copies, making him one of the best-selling fiction authors of all time. MacLean also published two novels under the pseudonym Ian Stuart.
The most successful was the first of these, the 1968 film Where Eagles Dare, which was also a bestselling novel. In the late 1960s, encouraged by film producer Elliott Kastner, MacLean began to write original screenplays, concurrently with an accompanying novel. Many of his novels have been adapted to film, most notably The Guns of Navarone (1957) and Ice Station Zebra (1963). Alistair Stuart MacLean ( Scottish Gaelic: Alasdair MacGill-Eain 21 April 1922 – 2 February 1987) was a Scottish novelist who wrote popular thrillers and adventure stories.
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