William Donald Patrick was born in Dalry, North Ayrshire on the 24th of December, 1889. He was the son of William Smith Neil Patrick and his wife Anne. William was the Sheriff Clerk of Ayr.
William Donald Patrick attended the High School of Glasgow and proceeded to study law at the University of Glasgow, graduating with an MA in 1909 and LLB in 1912. He was the gold medallist in the Forensic Medicine class and took second place in Public International Law.
By 1913 he had been admitted to the Faculty of Advocates and at the outbreak of WWI he joined the Royal Flying Corps and later, the RAF..
He served admirably in the war, joining No. 1 squadron in 1917 and becoming an air ace, scoring seven kills on German aircraft between 1917 and 1918. He was promoted to Captain and later to Flight Commander.
In April 1918, he was shot down by enemy anti-aircraft fire and landed near Messines, being taken prisoner and sent to Holzminden prisoner of war camp. He saw out the remainder of the war in the camp, before being returned to Scotland.
He then returned to his legal career, which saw him gain a reputation as a rising star in the field. Known for his sharp mind and forensic skills, he became an advocate depute in the sheriff courts in 1929, as well as standing counsel to the Department of Agriculture for Scotland. In August 1933, he became a King’s Counsel and by 1937 he was unanimously elected as Dean of the Faculty of Advocates. He still wasn’t finished, as by 1939 he became a judge at the Court of Session and Senator of the College of Justice, under the title of Lord Patrick..
The most famous legal case he took part in was following the Second World War, when he represented the United Kingdom at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (April 1946 – November, 1948), which saw 28 Japanese military and political leaders tried for war crimes. The Tokyo War Crimes trial took its toll on his health due to the harrowing nature of the Japanese atrocities committed during the war and he returned to Scotland to recuperate in 1948.
In 1949, he became a Privy Councillor and in the same year Glasgow University awarded him an honorary doctorate. In 1950 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
He retired in 1963, after almost 25 years on the Bench. He would die in Edinburgh, on the 17th of February, 1967 at the age of 77. He was unmarried and had no children.
Further Reading
Tokyo War Crimes Trial at advocates.org.uk
William Donald Patrick at University of Glasgow