Sir John William Maxwell Aitken was the son of Lord Beaverbrook, the Anglo-Canadian newspaper publisher and member of Winston Churchill's wartime cabinet.
He was a Group Captain in the Royal Air Force at the conclusion of the Second World War, became a recipient of the Distinguished Service Order and the Distinguished Flying Cross and was a triple fighter ace with 16 1/2 kills.
In 1946, he entered the family newspaper business, as a director of the Express Group, and would become Chairman of Beaverbrook Newspapers Ltd.
At the 1945 general election, Aitken was elected a Member of Parliament for Holborn with a majority of 925.
