Early Life
Born in Kinlochleven, Scotland, his parents were Daniel MacGregor, an accountant at the British Aluminium plant, and his wife Grace Alexanderina, née Fraser Maclean, a schoolteacher. MacGregor's parents were members of the Calvinist United Free Church and he received a devoutly Christian upbringing. During the UK General Strike of 1926, his elder brothers drove trams in Glasgow to help break the strike. He attended George Watson's College, Edinburgh and Hillhead High School, Glasgow. At the University of Glasgow, MacGregor studied metallurgy and engineering with some distinction, receiving a first-class degree. He then earned a diploma with distinction at the Royal College of Science and Technology.
MacGregor started work as a metallurgist in 1935, alongside his father in the Kinlochleven aluminium plant but he was soon recruited as a junior manager at William Beardmore and Company's Parkhead Forge to work on vehicle armour. There, he faced an early confrontation with trade union leader David Kirkwood in a strike involving crane-drivers. MacGregor's handling of the matter, involving driving cranes himself for two weeks, brought him to the attention of chairman Sir James Lithgow, who marked him out for rapid promotion.
At the start of World War II in 1939, MacGregor went to work for the Ministry of Supply on the development of tanks. Minister of Aircraft Production Lord Beaverbrook was the next to spot his talent and commandeered him to travel to Canada and the U.S. on procurement missions for aviation amour. He was then seconded to the British military mission in the U.S. where he started to become familiar with U.S. industry, including work on the development of the Sherman tank.
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