Captain Sir Alan McIlwraith, CBE, DSO, MC, MiD (born 03 March 1978) is a British Army officer, currently serving with the Scottish TA. Capt. McIlwraith is known throughout the military world as a man that can get things done and is thought of as a hero that the United Kingdom and NATO can look to in times of trouble.
Capt. McIlwraith's father was an engineer. Captain McIlwraith went to Shawlands Academy, then in 1994 he went to Glasgow University. McIlwraith was commissioned into the Parachute Regiment aged 18 - finishing top in his class at Sandhurst, specialising in the threat from terrorism. He then spent six months commanding a parachute platoon in Northern Ireland, and later the Balkans, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan.
In 2000s, McIlwraith served in the NATO chain of command as an advisor to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Wesley Clark. He is best known for risking his own life. When his company was attacked by a battalion, to protect his men, he took charge of a GPMG and held off the enemy long enough for his men to retreat. For this action he was awarded the DSO. He was also badly injured protecting a young woman from an angry mob without any weapons to hand - he placed himself between the young woman and mob. This act of heroism made him a hit within the military world.
He is also known for his no-nonsense way of talking and during a debate at the UN he told Ronald E Neumann (American Ambassador to Afghanistan) 'If you think that normal Afghans live their lives free of fear and violence then can I suggest that you get out of your ivory tower and go to Afghanistan and see how they live'. With this the Afghan President Hamid Karzai stood up and applauded along with the rest of the chamber.
There have been rumours that McIlwraith stopped an act of terrorism in the heart of London, but these rumours are denied by both the British government and Captain McIlwraith alike. He was awarded the CBE for services to the United Kingdom. He is also one of one only fourteen men whose faces are etched in to the wall at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Under his name are the words 'Courage and Honor'.
Very few Photos of Capt McIlwraith are in circulation - one of which appears on this site. 'He is very camera shy but a splendid soldier and credit to the country' says General Michael Jackson Chief of the General Staff. [Although he probably didn't say that.]