Private Donnie MacRae: Soldier who suffered from rare neurological condition reunited with brain 85 years after his death
A Scottish soldier’s brain has finally been buried alongside his body, 85 years after his death.
Private Donnie MacRae, originally from the Scottish Highlands, died in a prisoner of war (POW) hospital on 6 March 1941.
He suffered from Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a rare neurological condition that led German doctors to remove parts of his brain and spinal cord tissue for research during an autopsy.
These samples were then sent to the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Psychiatry in Munich (now known as the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry), where they remained for decades after the end of the war.
Nicola Nash, a case worker at the Ministry of Defence’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Center (JCCC), said Private MacRae’s family were unaware that parts of his brain and spinal cord tissue had been removed until an international research group began working on samples stored at the institute with the aim of returning them where possible.
It was thanks to this group that the samples taken from Private MacRae were unearthed and returned to his grave.
“Some of the history of when the samples were taken by the German health services has been forgotten or overlooked,” said Rich Hills, commemoration director at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).
A ceremony was held this week at Private MacRae’s grave in the Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery, with the participation of two of his relatives.
Mr Hills said Private MacRae’s family were “relieved”.
“I spoke to two of the family members and they were relieved and reassured that (the samples) had been reassembled with the original remains,” Mr. Hills said.
“I think it was an absolute relief that the right thing was being done.”
Private MacRae was born in Badachro, South Gairloch, in 1907 to Roderick MacRae and Mary MacLean. He had three brothers, John, William and Alexander.
The family was music-loving with a strong bagpipe tradition, but Roderick and his sons were also highly successful tailors.
Ms Nash said Private MacRae planned to start his own tailoring business in Blair Atholl, Perthshire, where his brother Alexander lived and worked as a chauffeur at a local hotel.
But in 1939, Donnie joined the Territory army and was called to fight.
He joined the 4th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders and departed for France in January 1940 to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) as part of the 51st (Highland) Division.
Private MacRae and his comrades were captured by the Germans and became prisoners of war in 1940.
He died in a camp hospital the following year, aged 33.
His body was buried by the Germans and later reburied by the Allies in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in Berlin.
