Neil Cameron, KT, GCB, CBE, DSO, DFC: was another of the flight training recruits at Scone Aerodrome during the late 1930s. He was born at 32 Pitcullen Terrace in Perth on 8 July 1920 to Isabella Cameron (née Stewart) and Neil Cameron who had served as a company sergeant major in the Seaforth Highlanders. Neil Cameron the elder died when his only child was but 3 weeks of age. Consequently, Cameron was raised by his mother and grandmother at 33 Balhousie Street.
Neil Cameron rose through the ranks of the RAF to become later Lord Cameron of Balhousie – Baron Cameron of Balhousie, Marshal of the RAF, the Chief of Defence Staff, and the first president of the Scottish Aero Club.
He was educated at the Northern District School from the age of 5 to 10 years and Perth Academy (Rose Terrace until 1932). Leaving school, he took up a post in 1937 with the Commercial Bank of Scotland in their Newburgh office (Fife) and joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve in May of 1939. With the declaration of war by Britain in September of 1939 came a commission as a pilot officer for Neil Cameron.
He served as a fighter pilot, taking part in the Battle of Britain, the Battle of Alam el Halfa, the First Battle of El Alamein, and the Second Battle of El Alamein. As a squadron leader, Cameron served in actions in Burma (today Myanmar) flying Republic P-47 Thunderbolts. Later, Cameron became a military thinker, strategist, and in August 1977, the Chief of the Defence Staff. He later became Principal of King’s College, London and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Law degree.
In 1983, he was created a life peer as Baron Cameron of Balhousie and later that year appointed a Knight of the Order of the Thistle. Cameron died in London on 29 January 1985.
Neil Cameron, KT, GCB, CBE, DSO, DFC
First Day Cover posted 22 July 1987. Flown in Phantom FG1, XT860, RAF 43 Squadron, Leuchars, Fife. Overflew Perth Academy and the Region of Balhousie.