Family and Personal Life
Donald Campbell was born in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, the son of Malcolm, later Sir Malcolm Campbell, holder of 13 world speed records in the 1920s and 30s in the famous Bluebird cars and boats, and his second wife, Dorothy Evelyn née Whittall.
Campbell attended St Peter's School, Seaford and Uppingham School. At the outbreak of World War II he volunteered for the Royal Air Force, but was unable to serve because of a childhood illness. He joined Briggs Motor Bodies Ltd in West Thurrock, where he became a maintenance engineer. Following his father's death in 1948 and aided by Malcolm's chief engineer, Leo Villa, the younger Campbell strove to set speed records on land and water.
He married three times: to Daphne Harvey in 1945, producing daughter Georgina (Gina) Campbell in 1946; to Dorothy McKegg in 1952; and to Tonia Bern in 1958, which lasted until his death in 1967. He apparently also had some interest in the paranormal, which he nurtured as a member of the Ghost Club.
Despite being a qualified engineer, a successful businessman, a multiple record-breaker in his own right and a highly effective advocate of his own cause, Campbell was not an easy man and seemed driven to emulate, if not surpass, his father's achievements.
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