MacRobert baronets

Tragedy struck the family again when Alasdair was killed in a flying accident in 1938, and the title passed to his younger brother Roderic.

In May 1941 Roderic was killed in action whilst flying a Hawker Hurricane fighter in the Middle East,[1] and just over a month later on 30 June 1941, the title became extinct when the youngest brother Iain, was also killed in action whilst serving with the Royal Air Force.

Lady MacRobert believed that her sons had lived up to the family motto Virtutis Gloria Merces – translated as Honour is the Reward of Bravery.

[4] Pipe Major W. Ross composed the slow march (or lament) in memory of Lady MacRobert's three sons in 1944.

The plane was handed over to her crew at RAF Wyton on October 10, 1941, with Lady MacRobert attending the naming ceremony.

The aircraft was lost during a minelaying raid against the Øresund in May 1942; it was brought down by anti-aircraft fire and crashed into Gals Klint Forest, near the town of Middelfart.

[8] The last MacRobert's Reply Tornado GR.4 ZD741 made its final flight on 25 January 2018 to RAF Leeming and was scrapped in October 2018, bringing an end to the tradition.

[9][10] Lady MacRobert also sponsored four Hawker Hurricanes, three named after her sons and the fourth honouring the fighting spirit of the Russian allies.