Max was one of the four sons of Charles Alexander Innes and his wife Agatha Rosalie Stevenson. He had one sister. Both the Innes and Stevenson families had served in India and Max’s father was Under Secretary to the Government of India when Max was born in 1909.

He was educated at Haileybury and Matriculated in 1927. He came up to Christ Church as a Scholar and read PPE. He graduated with a 2nd in 1931.

On 11 January 1929, he sailed on the Cheshire from Liverpool to Rangoon. He gave his address as Kentons, Henley-on-Thames and had no occupation.

On 22 August 1936, he sailed from Southampton to Lisbon on the mail ship Almanzora. Describing himself as a statistician, he was living at 51 High Street, Sevenoaks.

He married Wanda Jofre Lary at Westminster in December 1937. She was a Chilean citizen who had lived in France and Portugal. She had arrived in England from Buenos Aires in September 1936 and gave her future address as 17 Canonbury Park, London N1.

Max was in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and was serving on HMS Wasp, a shore base at Dover, operating Motor Torpedo Boats against enemy shipping in the Channel. He was in command of Motorised Anti-Submarine Boat 31 when enemy aircraft attacked her.

He died from wounds on 23 April 1942 following that enemy action

He is buried in Dover (St. James’s) Cemetery Row A. Grave 7.

Wanda Innes returned to Chile. She sailed from Liverpool to Buenos Aries on 29 September 1944 with her mother. She had been living at 29 Craven Terrace, W2. She died in Santiago de Chile in January 2009 at the age of 101.