Alistair was the only son of Brigadier General John George Harry Hamilton of Skene House, Dunecht Aberdeenshire and his wife Sybil Irene Micholls, daughter of Edward Montefiore Micholls, a Barrister, who married at St. Margaret’s Westminster on 15 October 1912. His father, born in 1869, served with the Royal Highlanders in the Boer War and was Mentioned in Despatches, twice, and awarded the DSO. He served in the 1914-18 War. Sybil's parents, Edward & Ada (nee Beddington) were Jewish. John descends from the Montefiore family of which the late Hugh Montefiore (Bishop of Birmingham) was a member. Ada's other daughter, Dorothea, married Walter Samuel, 2nd Viscount Bearsted. It may be presumed that Sybil raised John and his sister Jean in the Christian faith.

Alistair was educated at Eton and matriculated in 1932. He spent that summer in Canada, returning in early September. In 1933 and 1935 he represented Scotland as an Officer Cadet in the National Match of the National Rifle Association. In 1934, he shot in the University Team against Cambridge in the Chancellor’s Challenge Plate and got a Half-blue.

He read PPE and graduated in 1935. He was Gazetted 2nd Lieutenant on 6 July 1935 in the Black Watch [Royal Highlanders], the Regiment in which his father had served. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1937.

He was killed in the battle at Suda Bay on 28 May 1941.

He is buried in the Suda Bay War Cemetery Plot 16. B. 14.
The Papers of Gen Sir Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton, GCB, GCMG, DSO (1853-1947) at 
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/cats/hamilton/h0-0.htm

Correspondence between Hamilton and his cousin Brig Gen John George Harry Hamilton, his wife Sybil Irene Hamilton and their son 2nd Lt John George Alistair Hamilton relating to family matters. 33 letters  HAMILTON: 14/8/18 1920 Nov 16-1941 Jun 16.

With thanks to Dominic L .J. Mann for information about the Montefiore family connection.