14 Facts About Fraser McLuskey

James Fraser McLuskey, MC was a British Church of Scotland minister, who served as a military chaplain with the Special Air Service during World War II.

Fraser McLuskey later went on to become the minister of St Columba's, the larger of the Church of Scotland's two congregations in London.

Fraser McLuskey served as Moderator of the General Assembly from 1983 to 1984.

Fraser McLuskey attended Aberdeen Grammar School from 1920 to 1931 and returned to Edinburgh to take degrees in arts and divinity.

In 1939 Fraser McLuskey succeeded Dr Archie Craig as chaplain to the University of Glasgow.

Fraser McLuskey was chaplain to the 1st SAS regiment, and was dropped into occupied France by parachute to an area between Nevers and Dijon.

Fraser McLuskey landed in a tree, upside down, and after cutting himself free managed to join up with the soldiers from whom he had become separated.

Fraser McLuskey wrote about his experiences in the book 'Parachute Padre'.

From 1947 to 1950, Fraser McLuskey was sub-warden at the Royal Army Chaplains' Training Centre.

Fraser McLuskey then returned to Scotland, first to the parish of Broughty Ferry East and then, in 1955 to New Kilpatrick on the outskirts of Glasgow, which had a congregation of more than 2,000, one of the largest in the Church of Scotland.

Fraser McLuskey was a strong believer in having Church of Scotland outposts in London.

Fraser McLuskey retired in 1986 to Edinburgh, where he became a member of a group of current and retired ministers who supported the Conservative Party and opposed the left-wing stance of the Church of Scotland during the time of Margaret Thatcher.

Fraser McLuskey spent much of his free time travelling the countryside where he went with the Special Air Service in World War II.

In 1966 Fraser McLuskey was landed in controversy when he planned to marry a widow, Ruth Briant, who before her marriage to Colonel Keith Briant, had been divorced.