David Duncan (diplomat)

David Francis Duncan (22 February 1923 – 31 August 2007) was a British diplomat. During World War II he was an officer in the Royal Artillery and was mentioned in despatches.^[1] After the war he entered the Diplomatic Service and served both as the 8th United Kingdom Ambassador to Nicaragua from 1974 to 1976^[2] and as British counsellor to the Disarmament Conference from 1971 to 1974.^[3]

Duncan was serving in the British embassy in Baghdad (Iraq) in July 1958 when there was a violent revolution. The King and his leading advisers were murdered, and a mob attacked the British embassy. Duncan drove to the embassy that day, only to discover that the residency was on fire, and that there were tanks and a mob in the street outside, which then turned on him. His Iraqi passenger, his cook Rashid, promptly jumped out of the car, saying, "I'm leaving you now, Sahib". Duncan did a rapid u-turn and sped off, but a few minutes later he got stuck in heavy traffic. An Iraqi on foot stuck his head through the open window, and the following conversation ensued: Iraqi: "Where are you going?" Duncan: "I'm going home." Iraqi: "Are you English?" Duncan: "No, I'm Scottish." Iraqi (temporarily non-plussed): "We killing all English, French and Americans." Happily, Duncan was able to drive home unmolested.^[4]