2.  THE DOUGLAS FAMILY

             On the 3^rd of May 1916 the company was warned to undertake a crater consolidation.  No. 2 Section, temporarily under 2^nd Lieutenant Douglas, was entrusted with the important task  of forming forward crater consolidation dumps at the head of communication trenches near the headquarters of the 1/21^st Battalion, The London Regiment.  Four craters were to be blown; No.  1 Section was allotted the two northern ones and No. 3 Section the two southern craters.  Each section had with it forty men of the 4^th Royal Welsh Fusiliers (Pioneers) and a carrying party of  fifty infantry also was placed at the company’s disposal.  All the troops concerned were in their assembly positions by 1630 hours.  At 1645 hours the four mines were fired, the storming parties  of the 1/21^st rushed and held the far lips of the craters, and an hour’s intense barrage was opened.  At 1845 hours the craters were examined to determine the effects of the mines.  Douglas and
 No. 2 Section were sent for as soon as No. 1 and No. 3 Sections and the Pioneers had their consolidation work definitely allotted and were employed on wiring.  Douglas’s men brought up the  needed supplies to the units working on the craters. [24]

Figure 4.  The Vimy Ridge Craters.

            2^nd Lieutenant Douglas was appointed a Temporary Captain on the 9^th of May 1916. [25]   On the 26^th of May the company headquarters was moved to La Comté and on the 1^st of June 1916 Douglas was promoted to the substantive rank of Lieutenant. [26]   By the 3^rd of June the company headquarters had moved to La Thieuloye and from the 12^th through the 14^th of June the company was located at Aix-Noulette.  On the 20^th of June 1916 Lieutenant Douglas was appointed Acting Captain and was made Second-in-Command of the 2/3^rd Field Company.  The company spent the majority of the summer at Aix Noulette involved with general engineer field works.

Battle of the Somme

            The 2/3^rd Field Company was heavily involved in support of operations of the 47^th Division from July into October of 1916.  The company made numerous moves as the British offensive on the Somme was underway.  The company headquarters was located at the following villages during the Battle of the Somme: [27]

Table 6.  Company Locations and Tasks in the  Sector
(16 July 1916 to 4 September 1916)  

 NOTES TO TABLE 6:

      (1)   This position was southeast of High Wood and about midnight on the 28^th of July 1918 it received extremely heavy shelling from 5.9-inch, 8-inch and 11-inch howitzers.  Douglas was not wounded during this shelling.

(2)   Two sections were located at Ypres working on the Hill 60 Subsector.

            On the 26^th of November 1916 Quentin Douglas went on leave and while on leave he supposedly was posted to command a field company of the 55^th Division Engineers.  During the period of time that Douglas served in the 520^th Field Company, unit suffered 33 casualties, killed and wounded.  A list of these casualties is provided below.

Figure 5. Company Casualty List, 520^th Field Company, R.E. during the Period that Quentin Douglas Served in the Unit.

             The unit history of the 55^th Division lists all of the officers commanding the Royal Engineers Field Companies during the war.  Douglas is not listed as one of them.  He was, in fact,  assigned to the 55^th Division Engineers but not as an officer commanding one of the companies.  The field companies of the 55^th Division consisted of the following:

·         419^th (1^st West Lancashire) Field Company
·         422^nd (2/1^st West Lancashire) Field Company
·         423^rd (2/2^nd West Lancashire) Field Company

            Douglas’s service papers show that in fact he was assigned to the 419^th Field Company on the 12^th of December 1916 with the rank of Acting Major.  His acting rank would seem to indicate that he was the O.C. of the 419^th, however in January of 1917 he was sent to attend the Royal Engineers Company Commanders Course in Le Parcq, a town in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.  If he did command the 419^th Field Company it was for a very short while, so short in fact that he is not listed as the O.C. in any official or unofficial documents.  Apparently the Commander Royal Engineers (C.R.E.) of the 55^th Division Engineers felt that he required more training to be an O.C., hence his attendance at the course.  It is not known how long the course lasted, but on the 5^th of May 1917 Acting Major Douglas was posted to No. 3 Reinforcement Company, R.E. in the 5^th Army in France and not back to the 419^th Field Company.  In September of 1917 he was posted to the Base Depot at Rouen on the disbandment of No. 3 Reinforcement Company, R.E.  While at Rouen he was attached to the Royal Engineers Training School there.  His specific duties at the training school were not determined during this research.

            At this point in his military service in France and Flanders he began a series of assignments which took him out of the division engineers.  In November of 1917 he was appointed the Corps Light Railway Officer within the R.E. Transportation Establishment and was posted to III Corps. 

            Light railways, sometimes referred to as trench railways represented military adaptation of early 20th century railway technology to the problem of keeping soldiers supplied during the static trench warfare phase of Great War. The large concentrations of soldiers and artillery at the front lines required delivery of enormous quantities of food, ammunition and fortification construction materials where transport facilities had been destroyed. Reconstruction of conventional roads (at that time rarely surfaced) and railways was too slow, and fixed facilities were attractive targets for enemy artillery. Light railways linked the front with standard gauge railway facilities beyond the range of enemy artillery. Empty cars often carried litters returning wounded from the front.  The proper operation of such a light railway system at Corps level became the responsibility of Quentin Douglas from this point on in his active service.

            His stay with III Corps was a short one as he was posted as the Corps Light Railway Officer with the British Cavalry Corps on the 1^st of January 1918.  On the 7^th of March 1918 he was transferred with the same duties to VII Corps and on the 1^st of April 1918 he was given temporary assignment with the Chief Engineer, VII Corps to work on defence systems in the corps area.

            On the 1^st of June 1918 Quentin Douglas was appointed to the rank of Acting Major and in August he was relieved of his temporary duty with the Chief Engineer, VII Corps and was posted back to duties as a Corps Light Railway Officer (pro tem), this time in X Corps.  In September he received his last posting as the Corps Light Railway Officer in III Corps and shortly thereafter he returned home from France, probably shortly after the Armistice.

            Acting Major Quentin Douglas was demobilized from the Army at London in January 1919.

4.  THE INTER-WAR YEARS, 1919-1939

            Perhaps because of a lack of work to support himself, Quentin Douglas rejoined the Territorial Army in 1919 after a medical examination at London.  Shortly thereafter he married Edith Dorothy Ingram, the daughter of the Reverend Delaval Shafto Ingram (1840-1920) and Elinor Welldon Ingram (1845-?).  Their marriage was registered in Tonbridge, Kent.  The Reverend Ingram was at the time the Headmaster of Felsted School, a position that he held until the 25^th of July 1920 when he died in Tonbridge. [28] ^, [29]

            On the 14th of April 1920 Quentin Douglas was authorized the 1914-15 Star for his service during the Great War [30] and on the 26th of April 1920 he was promoted to the rank of Captain in the Royal Engineers Territorial Force_. [31]   Douglas pursued work in his civilian career until April of 1921 when he was embodied to attend a course at the School of Military Engineering (S.M.E.) at Chatham, Kent.  In May of 1921, following completion of the course at the S.M.E. he was posted to the Defence Force at Wimbledon with the rank of Major.  The nature of the course that he attended at the S.M.E. is unknown.

            Douglas was issued the British War Medal and Victory Medal on the 26^th of May 1921.  Although the 1914-15 Star had been authorized to him on the 14^th of April 1920 he apparently had not received the medal and had to make a special application for it. [32]  His Medal Index Card shows that at the time of his application for the medal his residence was 29 Langham Mansions, Earl’s Court Square, London S.W.5., a rather luxurious building in an exclusive area of London.  How he came to be able to live is such an exclusive area is not clear.  His financial situation apparently had improved significantly between the time he left the Army in 1919 and 1921.  There may have been some family money involved or he may have had some significant success in his civilian occupation. 

 Figure 6.  Langham Mansions, Earl’s Court Square, London S.W.5

 

Figure 7.  Map of London Showing the Location of Earl’s Court.

            On the 21^st of May 1921 Edith Douglas gave birth to their first son, Alexander “Sandy” Shafto Douglas, in Kensington.  Like his father, Sandy Douglas would attend Marlborough  College when he came of age. [33]   In the autumn of 1921 Quentin Douglas resigned his commission in the Royal Engineers.  He became a property owner in London and began an active life in  local politics in Kensington.  This would appear to indicate that his financial situation had markedly improved within a very short period of time.

            From 1921 until 1939 Douglas’s domestic life consisted of his work and travel to numerous places.  His mother-in-law, Elinor Welldon Ingram died in Christchurch, Hampshire on the 3^rd of April 1925 and his father, John Douglas, passed away in 1928.  Douglas and Edith moved a couple of times during this period with Electoral Rolls showing their residences as 26 Douglas Mansions on Cromwell Road in London in 1921 and then as Nithwater, Talbot Road in Wembley in 1928. 

            Quentin and Edith appear on the manifest of S.S. Adriatic dated the 4^th of May 1929 leaving Liverpool and bound for New York.  Their residence is listed as Wembley and Douglas listed his occupation as Surveyor.  Although they are shown on this manifest their names were struck off as they apparently had a change of travel plans.  They are next listed on the manifest of S.S. Baltic dated the 10^th of May 1929 leaving from Liverpool and bound for New York, arriving there on the 27^th of May 1929.  There seems to be a problem with this manifest in that their crossing of the Atlantic appears to have taken 18 days!  This problem may be resolved, however, as they also are listed on another manifest for S.S. Baltic [34] dated the 18^th of May 1929 that shows them departing Liverpool on this date bound for New York and arriving on the 27^th of May, a crossing taking only 10 days.  Again, Douglas listed his occupation as Surveyor and his Wembley address on this manifest.

Figure 8.  S.S. (later R.M.S. Baltic)

            It appears that the Douglas’s trip to the United States in 1929 may have been part holiday and part work.  A manifest for the Port of Niagara Falls, New York shows Quentin Douglas entering Canada from Niagara Falls on the 5^th of June 1929.  The manifest indicates that he was unaccompanied and that he intended to stay at the Prince George Hotel in Toronto, Ontario. 

 Figure 9.  The Prince George Hotel, Toronto, Ontario, circa 1910.

            Mrs. Douglas may have remained in New York City for sight-seeing or shopping while Douglas was occupied with some business transaction in Toronto.  There is no indication that she  joined him in Canada, nor has any information been uncovered to show when they returned to England.

            Quentin Douglas appears to have been fully engaged with managing his own estate property from 1932 until 1939 when World War 2 interrupted his life once again.  In 1934 his son “Sandy” entered Marlborough College (B3 House). [35]    
            In 1935 Douglas began traveling abroad again.  On the 17^th of October 1935 he sailed from Liverpool aboard S.S. Tuscania [36] bound for Gibraltar.  He and one other person are listed as the only two passengers on the ship.  On the ship’s manifest Douglas listed his occupation as Surveyor and his residences as Cameron House, 4 Ashburn Place, London S.W.7. 

 Figure 10.  S.S. Tuscania.

             It appears that Douglas stayed in Gibraltar about a month as the ship’s manifest for S.S. California shows that on the 19^th of November 1935 Douglas boarded this ship in Gibraltar.  S.S. California had originally sailed from Bombay, India before stopping at Gibraltar.  On the ship’s manifest he again listed his occupation as Surveyor and his residence as still Cameron House, 4 Ashburn Place, London S.W.7. 

 

 Figure 11.  S.S. California.

             In 1936 Douglas’s residence again was 29 Langham Mansions, Earl Court Square, London S.W.5.  He also listed a second address, probably an office address for his business at 18  Ashburn Place.  In 1938 his son “Sandy” graduated from Marlborough College and in September of that year Quentin Douglas joined the Army Officers Emergency Reserve in London.

5.  WORLD WAR 2, 1939-1946
Quentin Douglas was working in Kensington as a surveyor and as the manager of his own estate when World War 2 broke out in Europe.  Apparently eager to dohis bit in this war as well he  volunteered for service in the Army Officers Emergency Reserve and underwent a medical examination in London on the 24^th of October 1939 to determine if he was fit to serve.  He passed  the examination and rejoined the Royal Engineers on the 7^th of November 1939 with the permanent rank of 2^nd Lieutenant and the acting rank of Major.  He was issued Army Number  P/104880.  On this same date he was attached to the 6^th Training Battalion, Royal Engineers at Elgin, Moray, Scotland.  His service records are unclear as to whether he actually was posted to  Elgin or whether his assignment was changed before he could go to Scotland.  It is also unclear whether this assignment would have been for training or as an officer in the battalion responsible 
 for training Other Ranks.

            Upon rejoining the colours Douglas was asked a number of questions that were noted on his Army Form B199A.  When asked if he had any special knowledge or experience he listed the following:

• “Buying of furnishings.”  One might assume that he gained this experience while working as an Apprentice or as an estate agent or manager.

• “Commercial Catering.”  No information was uncovered during this research project to indicate how Douglas might have obtained this experience.

• “Chairman of the Valuation Committee, Royal Borough of Kensington.”  This experience most likely came from his involvement in the politics of the Borough of Kensington, an involvement that ultimately would get him elected as mayor of the borough.

            When Douglas was asked about his “Knowledge of Foreign Countries” he responded as follows on his Army Form B199A:  “Travel, independent, but of a sight-seeing order” and he listed the following countries:

·         U.S.A. (New York and Detroit)
·         Canada (Toronto and Quebec)
·         Norway (Bergen and Oslo)
·         Sweden (Stockholm and Gothenburg)
·         Germany (Kiel)
·         South Western Switzerland
·         Northern France and Belgium (battlefields)
·         Gibraltar
·         Morocco

            Under “Business Qualifications” on his Army Form B199A Douglas listed “Surveyor (Building and Quantities), Dilapidations and Leases.

NOTE: “”Dilapidation” is a term meaning a destructive event to a building, but more particularly used in the plural in English law for the waste committed by the incumbent of an ecclesiastical living: the disrepair for which a tenant is usually liable when he has agreed to give up his premises in good repair.  This work most probably was associated with Douglas’s work as an estate agent.

             The Great War campaign service listed on Quentin Douglas’s Army Form B199A included:  

• Battle of Loos, 1915

• Battle of the Somme, 1916

• Battle of Passchendaele, 1^st Phase, 1917

• Battle of Cambrai, 1917

• Assault of the Hindenburg Line, 1918

            Two additional items were listed on his Army Form B199A.  First, that he was never wounded on active service and second that he received no gallantry awards and was never mentioned in despatches during the Great War.             On the 3^rd of December Douglas was promoted to the rank of Captain, probably while serving with the 6^th Training Battalion, R.E.  His next posting came on the 8^th of March 1940 when he was assigned to the 104^th Army Troops Company, R.E.  He proceeded overseas to France with the 104^th Army Troops Company on the 9^th of March 1940.   This unit was part of the British Expeditionary Force (B.E.F.) as it was organized on the 10^th of May 1940.  Specifically it was assigned to the B.E.F.  Lines of Communications (L.O.C.) Troops under the command of Major General P. de Fonblanque.  Other Royal Engineers units with the L.O.C. Troops at the time were the following:

106th Army Troops Company

110th Army Troops Company

212th Army Troops Company

218th Army Troops Company

Along with:

4 Road Construction Companies

12 Artisan Works Companies

3 General Construction Companies

1 Map Depot

2 Engineer Stores (Base) Depots

Engineer Base Workshop

Forestry Company (1 section)

Line of Communication Depot

            The 104^th Army Troops Company along with other units was responsible for supporting the medical base at Dieppe under the control of the Deputy Director of Works of the B.E.F.  One of the most important tasks that the unit was assigned was to get the L.O.C. troops and reinforcements for the B.E.F. under cover before the winter of 1940/1941.  Here of course it was assumed that the B.E.F. would still be a viable force at that time.  Of course all these plans were changed on the 10^th of May 1940 (coincidentally the day after Douglas arrived in France) when the Germans invaded Holland and Belgium.  The Anglo-French troops advanced immediately in accordance with a long prepared plan.  The rest is well-known history.  On the 26^th of May 1940 the decision was made to withdraw to the Dunkirk perimeter.  By the morning of the 30^th of May the whole of the B.E.F. had withdrawn inside the perimeter defences.  As early as the 22^nd of May certain units no longer essential for fighting had begun to be evacuated.  Douglas and the 104^th Army Troops Company were some of the last to leave France, arriving back in England on the 19^th of June 1940. [37]  

            Here we have the extraordinary tale of an officer, 48 years of age, being sent to France with the B.E.F. at the start of World War 2 when surely there were many younger officers who could have been assigned to this duty.  After serving for four years during the Great War of 1914-1918, Douglas found himself in the precarious position of being overrun, killed or captured by the Germans early in the Second World War and having to take part in the historic and heroic evacuation from Dunkirk.  Despite the dangers confronting the men of the B.E.F. during this period, they were not entitled to the award of the France and Germany Star for their service since this medal only was awarded for individuals who served in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands or Germany and adjacent sea areas between the 6^th of June 1944 and the 8^th of May 1945. [38]

            During 1940 and into 1943, Alexander Shafto Douglas served with a Home Guard unit, “C” Company, The Chelsea and Kensington Battalion of the Kings Royal Rifle Corps with headquarters in the basement of the Royal School of Mines just the other side of Exhibition Road. [39]

            After his return from Dunkirk, Quentin Douglas was transferred to No. 3 Motor Transport Depot, R.E. at Crewe in Cheshire.  On the 22^nd of November 1940, while serving with this unit, he was “re-granted” the rank of Temporary Captain. [40]   He was chosen to attend No. 16 Messing Officers Course on the 12^th of August 1941, a course that he successfully completed on the 22^nd of August. [41]

            Douglas’s next posting came on the 10^th of September 1941 when he was assigned to the office of the Chief Engineer, London District and then further posted to the office of the Commander Royal Engineers (C.R.E.) North London.  With this assignment came another change in rank, this time reverting him to his substantive rank of Lieutenant.  This posting also was the start of a number of assignments that Douglas would have within the Works Establishment of the Royal Engineers.

            On the 5^th of January 1942 Douglas was posted to the office of the Chief Engineer, London District and on the 21^st of January he was reappointed to the rank of Temporary Captain as a result of his taking on greater responsibilities in the Chief Engineer’s office.  He did not remain long in this position and on the 12^th of April 1942 he was posted to the officer of the Commander Royal Engineers in North West London and was appointed as the Deputy Commander Royal Engineers with the rank of Acting Major.  On the 12^th of July 1942 Douglas was appointed to the rank of War Service Captain in the Royal Engineers and Temporary Major. [42]  

            Although Douglas has been serving in various staff positions in the Works Establishment since September of 1941, it was decided that he should attend the Staff Officer Royal Engineers (Stores) Course, a course that he began on the 25^th of January 1943.  This was a short course, lasting only four days and terminating on the 28^th of January.  He then appears to have returned to his duties as Deputy C.R.E. in North West London.

            On the 10^th of May 1943 Douglas relinquished his appointment as Deputy C.R.E. and reported to the Royal Engineers Depot in Halifax to join an overseas draft.  Now at the age of 51 he was preparing for yet another assignment abroad during war time.  From Halifax he proceeded overseas for service in India with the Eastern Army in Bengal under the command of Sir George Giffard.  En route to India Douglas disembarked at Durban, South Africa on the 25^th of July 1943 for “pay purposes” as stated in his Army Form B199A.  While Quentin Douglas was on his way to India, his son Alexander was commissioned a 2^nd Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers on the 30^th of July 1943. [43]

            Quentin Douglas arrived in Bombay on the 8^th of August 1943 and on the 26^th of that month he was reassigned from the Eastern Army in Bengal, arriving in Delhi on the 28^th of August (see Addendum 1).  For his short period of service in the Eastern Army Douglas was awarded the Burma Star medal.  Qualification for the award of this medal required service in the Burma campaign during the period from 1941 to 1945.  This included service in Burma, Malaya, China or Assam and Bengal between December 1941 and September 1945.

            The day after his arrival in Delhi, Quentin Douglas was posted as an Acting Major and Field Engineer in the Engineer in Chief’s Branch.  On the 21^st of September 1943 Alexander Douglas’s commission in the Royal Engineers, which he was granted in July of 1943, was changed with his appointment as a 2^nd Lieutenant in the Royal Corps of Signals. [44]   The precise reason for this change of Corps is not known, although it may be assumed that it was the result of Alexander’s educational background in the field of electronics.

            On the 10^th of October 1943 Quentin Douglas was appointed a Staff Officer Royal Engineers, Grade II, thus relinquishing his duties as a Field Engineer.  He retained his rank of Acting Major with this new assignment.  Douglas remained in this assignment for just over one year and on the 31^st of October 1944 he embarked at Bombay for the return trip home from India.  His service record shows that he returned to the United Kingdom on medical grounds although his specific ailment is not indicated.  Douglas arrived in the U.K. on the 4^th of December 1944 and was posted to the Royal Engineers Depot (“ex-overseas”) and was placed on leave awaiting a new assignment.  While on leave he was admitted to hospital for treatment, presumably for the malady that caused him to be sent home from India.  He was discharged from hospital on the 6^th of December 1944 and was immediately placed on sick leave pending his recuperation.  He was deemed fit to return to duty on the 15^th of January 1945 and on the following day he was posted to the office of the Chief Engineer, Scottish Command (Adjutant General’s Pool) pending a vacancy on the Works Service Establishment in the area.  The vacancy occurred on the 17^th of January and Douglas was immediately ordered to report for duty with the Commander Royal Engineers, Galloway Area.  Two days after reporting to the C.R.E., Galloway Douglas was posted as the Deputy C.R.E., Dumfries.  On the 16^th of February 1945 he was posted from the position of Deputy C.R.E., Dumfries to the office of the C.R.E., Headquarters Scottish Command for duty as the Acting C.R.E., Galloway.  By this time Quentin Douglas must have felt like a bouncing ball, being posted from one area and one assignment to another, spending very little time in any particular assignment.  Things were not going to improve for him.  On the 6^th of March 1945 he was given a medical examination, perhaps to verify that he had recovered from the illness that had sent him home from India, or more likely to prepare him for further overseas service. 

            On the 18^th of September 1945 he attended the Deputy C.R.E. course at the School of Military Engineering in Chatham, Kent.  It looked like perhaps he was being groomed for continued postings with the Works Service.  However, on the 23^rd of September 1945 he returned to Scotland from the School of Military Engineering with orders alerting him for overseas duty once again. [45]   On the 12^th of October 1945 Douglas was posted to the Royal Engineers Depot for overseas draft to the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR).  He proceeded to his new assignment on the 31^st of October 1945 for service in North West Germany and was taken on the strength of 50 Reinforcement Holding Unit (50 RHU).  Douglas remained in the Holding Unit until the 18^th of December 1945 when he was taken on the strength of 203 Works Section, Royal Engineers.  He reported to his new unit on the 10^th of February 1946 when the 203 Works Section was re-designated as 203 DCRE (Construction and Maintenance).  Douglas remained with this unit for about a month and a half when he received orders to return home from Germany on the 28^th of May 1946.  In the interim period between receiving his orders to return home and his actual release from military service, Quentin Douglas was assigned to 192 CRE (Construction and Maintenance) in North West Europe.  He disembarked in the United Kingdom on the 20^th of June 1946 and was struck off the strength of the BAOR on this same date and placed on Class A leave.  Major Quentin Douglas retained his commission in the Royal Engineers following his release from military service and did not relinquish the commission until the 15^th of March 1954.

            The following sections of this narrative summarize the major events in the military life of Major Quentin Douglas from the time of his service in the Great War until his final release from military service following the Second World War.

6.  PROMOTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS  

a.  Promotions:  Quentin Douglas received the promotions and changes in rank during his time in service shown in the table below.  The ups and downs in rank are not indicative of Douglas’s poor performance as an officer, but rather they are the result of the unusual British rank system involved with substantive ranks (that is; permanent ranks), temporary ranks and active ranks.

  b.      Appointments:  Quentin Douglas received the appointments shown in the table below  during his time in military service.  This table includes his appointments and positions that he held  during both the Great War of 1914-1918 and during World War 2.

 7.  MILITARY TRAINING

             Douglas received the following military training during his time in service:

 8.  MEDALS, AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

             Major Douglas received the following medals, awards and decorations during his time in service: [48]

            The medals shown below are in the author’s collection.  They are mounted with their original ribbons just as Major Douglas wore them.  The medals are, from left to right: The 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal, 1939-45 Star, Burma Star, Defence Medal, War Medal and 1953 Coronation Medal.

 Figure 12.  The Medals of Major Quentin Douglas, R.E.

 

 Figure 13.  Medal Index Card for Service in the Great War of 1914-1918.

 9.  SUMMARY OF SERVICE

             Major Quentin Douglas was released from service on the 15^th of June 1946.  His total service in both World Wars was reckoned as shown in the tables below:

 

 10.  POST SERVICE LIFE AND FAMILY INFORMATION

             In 1945, while Major Douglas was serving in Europe, his son Alexander Shafto Douglas married Doctor Audrey Mary Brasnett Parker. [49]   Alexander and Audrey subsequently had  two children; Shirley F.W. Douglas (1954 - ) and Andrew Malcolm Murrel Douglas (1956 - ). [50]   Andrew married Janice Christine Smoker [51] in 1988 and they had three children;  Jonathan Andrew Douglas (born in 1989), Paul Alexander Douglas (born in 1992) and Faith Alexandra Douglas (born in 1995).  All of these grandchildren of Major Douglas were born in  Southampton, Hampshire.

            Following his release from the Army in 1946, Major Douglas took up residence with his wife Edith at 18a Langham Mansions, Earls Court Square, London S.W.5.  In 1950 their address was listed as Estate Office, 159 Cromwell Road, London S.W.7.  During this year their son Alexander was attending the University of Cambridge where he earned a Master of Arts Degree.  Prior to his earning his Masters Degree he had earned a Bachelor of Science Degree at the University of London.  In 1952 Alexander was working on his PhD at Cambridge and wrote a thesis which focused on human-computer interactions.  In 1952 Alexander Douglas, as a professor of computer science, was credited with creating the first graphical computer game OXO (also known as Noughts and Crosses), a tic-tac-toe computer game on the EDSAC computer at University of Cambridge.

            On the 20^th of May 1952 Quentin Douglas was elected Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kensington.  He served two terms from 1952 to 1954 and while in this office he received the Coronation Medal in 1953 when Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the throne.  During this period he also served as a Justice of the Peace and still resided at the 159 Cromwell Road address. [52]     

            Following his studies at Cambridge, Alexander Douglas worked at Trinity College, Cambridge.  In 1953 he was elected as a Prize Fellow of Trinity College and spent a year at the University of Illinois as an assistant professor.  During that same year he was President of the Institute of Mathematics and Applications (FIMA) at Trinity College.  In 1955 he became the Junior Bursar of the college and in 1957 he worked on the Leeds Pegasus computer at the University of Leeds.

 Figure 14.  A Young Alexander Shafto Douglas.

 NOTE:  No photograph of Major Douglas was found during the research for this narrative.  One might wonder whether there was a resemblance between him and his son.  From 1957 to 1960 Alexander Douglas served as the Director of the Computer Laboratory at the University of Leeds.  In 1960 he was appointed a member of the Working Party to  explore the creation of a national system for handling university admission by the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals.  He then entered the commercial field as Technical Director of  the U.K. subsidiary of C-E-I-R, now known as Scientific Control Systems.  He held this position until 1968.  He left C-E-I-R to initiate European software interests as the chairman of Leasco  Systems & Research, Ltd.  From 1970 to 1973 Alexander Douglas served as an Adviser to the Parliamentary Selected Committee on Science and Technology and from 1971 to 1974 he  served as an Adviser to the United Nations Office of Science and Technology and was the President of the International Federation of Information Processing from 1971 to 1975.

            From 1974 to 1981 Alexander Douglas served as a Member of the Defence Scientific Advisory Council and also worked as Professor of Computational Methods at the Monotype Corporation.  He also served as Chairman of the Specialist Information Service of the Government International Council of Computers and Communications.

            Major Douglas appears to have lived out the remaining years of his life in retirement at his London address, probably extremely proud of his son’s accomplishments.  He died on the 3^rd of May 1974 at St. George’s Hospital, Westminster, London at the age of 82. 

Figure 15.  The Obituary of Major Douglas Quentin.

NOTE:  The obituary makes no mention of his service during the Great War, service which undoubtedly was much more arduous and dangerous than his service in World War 2.  Had he lived another year he would have been doubly proud of his son Alexander who, on the 15^th of June 1985, was decorated for his government service.  The London Gazette of that date included the following citation:

“Professor Alexander Shafto Douglas made an Ordinary Commander of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his services to the Ministry of Defence Scientific Advisory Council.” 

            In 2001, Andrew and Christine Douglas were living at 7 Barrs Wood Road in New Milton, Hampshire. [53]   Major Douglas’s son, Alexander Shafto “Sandy” Douglas, CBE died in his sleep from pneumonia on the 29^th of April 2010, age 88 years.  One source lists his place of death as Bournemouth, Dorset. [54]   Another source indicates that he died in New Milton, Hampshire. [55]   His wife Audrey also died in 2010.

Figure 16.  An Elder Alexander Shafto Douglas wearing his CBE.

NOTE: In the photograph above it appears that “Sandy” Douglas is wearing campaign medals from the Second World War.  No specific information regarding his service has been uncovered.    

---

ADDENDUM 1.  The Eastern Army in Bengal.

            The information contained in the addendum was taken from a description of the Eastern Army in Bengal given by Field Marshal The Viscount Slim in his book Defeat Into Victory.  Slim had just returned to India from Burma where he had commanded the Burma Corps, which consisted of the 1st Burma Division and the 17th Indian Division.  His corps had been soundly defeated by the Japanese and has been forced to retreat back into India.  Slim was posted to command 15 India Corps and in June 1942 he describes the condition in the Eastern Army in Bengal, the Army to which Douglas was assigned for the short period from 8 to 26 August 1943.

"The situation in June 1942 was an anxious one, likely at short notice to become critical.  Eastern Army, with its headquarters at Ranchi in Bihar, was responsible to General Headquarters, India, at Delhi, for the internal security  and external defense of all eastern India, which included, of course, the conduct of the war in Burma.  The forces at its disposal were meagre and of necessity spread over a vast area.  In Army Reserve, about Ranchi, were the 70th British Division and 50 Armoured Brigade.  To safeguard the strategic railways and to support the various provincial civil administrations, a number of small garrisons were scattered at great distances from one another.  Forward the army had two corps deployed to hold the Burma frontier (against the Japanese) and to safeguard the Bengal-Orissa coast line.  The IV Corps, with its headquarters at Imphal in Assam, faced the enemy roughly along the northern portion of this frontier.  It contained the newly arrived 23rd Indian Division and what was left of the troops who had come out of Burma in the 17th Indian Division, not yet re-equipped, fever-ridden, and much below strength, but still, wonderful to relate, with fight in them."

            This was the situation in the Eastern Army of Bengal in June of 1942, a little more than a year before Douglas was scheduled to report to his new assignment.  Things had improved by August of 1943, but he was still fortunate not to have to remain with the Eastern Army for very long.  

            During the approximately two weeks that Douglas was assigned as a Field Engineer with the Eastern Army, the engineer units were involved with improvements to the Lines of Communication from Arakan back to the rear area in the west.  As building materials were in short supply for road construction, the units had to resort to using bricks as the pavement materials for the roads.  This involved the establishment of brick kilns along the routes as the roads advanced.  Bricks were not the ideal solution to their problems since the monsoon rains had softened the roadway subgrades to the point where the bricks would often sink into the underlying soils under the weight of traffic.  This problem was easily solved by just placing more bricks in the areas that had subsided.

Figure 17. Field Marshal William Joseph Slim, 1st Viscount Slim, KG, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, DSO, MC, KStJ.

---

ADDENDUM 2.  Professor Alexander ("Sandy") Shafto Douglas, CBE

            Professor Alexander "Sandy" Shafto Douglas, CBE (born 21 May 1921, died 29 April 2010) was a British professor of computer science, credited with creating the first graphical Computer game OXO (also known as Noughts and Crosses) a tic-tac-toe computer game in 1952 on the EDSAC computer at University of Cambridge.

            Douglas was born on May 21, 1921 in London. At age eight, his family moved to Cromwell Road, near what would become the London Air Terminal.

            In the winter of 1938–39, Douglas and his future wife Andrey Parker made a snowman in the grounds of the Natural History Museum. Douglas and his wife would go on to have two children, and at least two grandsons.

            During the Blitz, in 1940–41, Douglas's Home Guard Unit, 'C' Company of the Chelsea and Kensington Battalion of the KRRC, had its headquarters in the basement of the Royal School of Mines, just the other side of Exhibition Road from the museums.

            Douglas attended the University of Cambridge in 1950. In 1952, while working towards earning his PhD, he wrote a thesis which focused on human-computer interactions and he needed an example to prove his theories. At that time, Cambridge was home to the second only stored-program computer, the EDSAC or Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (the first being Manchester University's "Small Scale Experimental Machine" or SSEM, nicknamed "The Baby", which ran its first program June 21, 1948). This gave Douglas the perfect opportunity to prove his findings by programming the code for a simple game where a player can compete against the computer — OXO.

            In 1953 he was elected as a Prize Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge; Douglas spends a year at the University of Illinois Computation laboratory as assistant Professor. In 1955 he became Junior Bursar of Trinity College.

            The Leeds Pegasus computer was installed in autumn 1957 in the Eldon Chapel on Woodhouse Lane. Douglas set up the Computer Laboratory of the University of Leeds, and it was there that he first became interested in the application of computers to business problems.

            The Pegasus holds an especial place in my affection, it being the machine I installed as the central University machine in a disused chapel in Leeds in 1957 — it was known as Lucifer, for Leeds University Computing Installation (FERranti). Our au pair girl from Spain made a beautiful little devilish doll which decorated the machine — it has probably disappeared by now.

            In June 1960 the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals set up a Working Party to explore the creation of a national system for handling university admissions. Douglas was appointed a member of the Working Party to provide   advice on the use of computers in this system. He had previously worked at Leeds with Ronald Kay, who was to become UCCA's General Secretary, on "an early and primitive but successful attempt to introduce computer methods into student registration procedures".

            He entered the commercial field in 1960 as Technical Director of the UK subsidiary of C-E-I-R (now Scientific Control Systems), leaving in 1968 to initiate the European software interests of Leasco Systems and Research Ltd. as Chairman.

            In 1980 I worked out that an Apple with two floppy disc drives was about 300 times as powerful as the Pegasus at 1/300th of the cost. Today we can assume that a further reduction of 100 times in cost per operation has taken place, though I haven' t done the sums with a 486-based micro. We must also bear in mind that the Pegasus represented an improvement of at least tenfold in cost per operation over earlier machines. An industry that has reduced its cost per operation by a factor of 10 million or so over 45 years is surely unique and certainly not easy to keep pace with mentally. We are now faced with the problem of what to do about software. The article, like a book, is easy to 'preserve', but to run it requires the original hardware or an emulator. Martin Campbell-Kelly has built an emulator of EDSAC I, and can run the programs on it. But it is difficult, even impossible, to give the flavour of what they did without the photoreader and the screen, since the ability to use these as input or output in unconventional ways, as in my noughts and crosses program where the players interrupted the light beam to input a move and viewed the storage monitor to see the 'board', cannot readily be reproduced on the emulating equipment. The matter becomes even more awkward with micros, where programs of similar nature, eg Wordstar, Wordperfect and Word, have been implemented on several different machines so as to look as nearly alike as possible to the user. No doubt this will be taken up by the CCS Working Parties in due course and some solutions found for working presentations, which must be our aim. All of us on the Committee look forward to welcoming assistance from whatever quarter, in our efforts to carry forward a memory of this fascinating and fast changing industry in working order!

            He has been a consultant to various agencies of the United Nations over the past decade, including the Office of Science and Technology the Human Rights Commission, the Statistical Office of the U.N., the I.L.O. and UNESCO.           He has acted as a consultant also for several international companies including Shell, Philips, and ICI.
            Between 1970 and 1974 he acted as Expert Adviser to Sub-Committees D & A of the Select Committee of Parliament on Science and Technology for their enquiry into computing. Between 1976 and 1977 he served on the Sub-Committee C of the Select Committee on the Nationalised Industries for their enquiries into Cable and Wireless Ltd. and the Tote. From 1973 to 1978 he was Non-executive Director of the Monotype Corporation.

            In October 1969 he became Professor of Computational Methods at the London School of Economics. He was Vice-Chairman of the Academic Board on the Board of Management of the University of London Computer Centre and Moderator to the Computer Science Department of Hong Kong Polytechnic.

            A founder member of the British Computer Society, he helped to found the Leeds Branch and became its first Chairman. He has served on many of its Committees, and is a Fellow and past President (1971/1972).

            He is a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, a Member of the O.R. Society, the Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing, and Data for Development. He is Vice-President of IFIP, the international computer coordinating body and Chairman of its Committee on International Liaison. He also represented IFIP on the Five International Associations Coordinating Committee, which coordinates the work of IFIP with that of IFORS, IFAC, AICA and IMEKO.

            He was, in 1977, awarded the IFIP Silver Core award.

            He is also: a Member of the British National Committee for support of the Unesco General Information Programme, and of the BNC for IIASA Governor of the International Council for Computer Communication.

Writings

            Over 60 papers have been published by Professor Douglas covering topics in Atomic Physics, Crystallography, Solution of Differential Equations, Computer Design, Programming and Operational Research in the Shipbuilding, Oil Chemical Mining, Engineering and Transportation Industries, and in the Printing Industry.

            Douglas, Alexander Shafto; May 18, 1954; "Some Computations in Theoretical Physics", PhD Dissertation 2478, (University of Cambridge. Faculty of Mathematics).

            Computers and Society: an Inaugural Lecture [Delivered on 27 April 1972, by Alexander Shafto Douglas; Publisher: London School of Economics and P; Date Published: 1973. ISBN 978-0-85328-019-4 ISBN 0-85328-019-3.

            Science Journal, October 1970 "Computers in the Seventies", Alexander “Sandy” Douglas.
Computer Networks, Volume 5, 1981, pp. 9–14. "Computers and Communications in the 1980's: Benefits and Problems", Alexander S. Douglas

            Sandy Douglas, "Some Memories of EDSAC I: 1950–1952", IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 98–99, 208, October 1979. {{doi:10.1109/MAHC.1979.10018}}

            Douglas died in sleep on April 29, 2010, from pneumonia.

http://www.douglashistory.co.uk/history/sandy_douglas.htm

---

ADDENDUM 3.  The Wedding of Quentin and Edith Douglas.

(The wedding announcement was taken from the original edition of the Kent and Sussex Courier, dated 6 February 1920.)

MARRIAGE OF MR. DOUGLAS AND MISS EDITH DOROTHY INGRAM,

BRIDE A GRAND-DAUGHTER OF DR. WELLDON, TONBRIDGE SCHOOL.

 

 NOTE:  This very poor photograph is the only image of Major Douglas
that has been located to date.

The marriage was solemnized Saturday at the Parish Church.

Edith Dorothy Ingram, daughter of the Rev. D. S. Ingram, of Eversfield. Tonbridge (formerly Rector of Gt. Oakley, Essex) and grand-daughter of the late  Dr. Weldon, formerly headmaster of Tonbridge School, and Mr. Quentin Douglas (late Major R.E.), of Mr. J. Douglas, of Lanham Mansions, Karl's Court Square, London S.W.  The officiating clergy were the Rev. Stuart H. Clark (Vicar and the Rev. John Fleming. The bride, who was escorted by her eldest brother, Mr. W. Ingram, in the absence of her father, whose ill-health prevented him from being present, wore a dress of stone-coloured cloth, embroidered in silk to match and trimmed with skunk fur. She wore hat to match and carried a bouquet of coloured anemones. She was attended by Miss Margaret Ingram and Miss Pamela Ingram, her little nieces, who wore coats and caps of stone coloured velveteen, trimmed with fur, and carried baskets of coloured anemones. They also wore necklaces of cornelians, the gift of the bridegroom. Mr. Douglas Daniels (late Duke of Wellington's Regiment) carried out the duties of best man. The service was choral, Mr. Geo. J. Kimmine, presiding the organ.  After the ceremony a reception was held at St. Saviour's Mission Room. Only relatives of the bride and bridegroom were invited, owing to the ill health of the bride's father. Later Mr. and Mrs. Douglas left for Eastbourne, where the honeymoon is being a-spent, the bride travelling in her wedding dress and fur coat. The wedding presents included some beautiful silver, china, glass and several cheques.

Photo: FLEMONS. Tonbridge.

  Kent & Sussex Courier - Friday 06 February 1920

Image © Trinity Mirror. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.

---

REFERENCES
Army Lists  

1. The Monthly Army List, April 1915, p. 826a.
2. The Monthly Army List, June 1919, p. 830c.
3. The Monthly Army List, December 1920, p. 831.

Books  

1. BLAXLAND, G.  Destination Dunkirk.
2. ELLIS, Major L.F.  France and Flanders, 1939-1940.  H.M.S.O. Official History, 1953.
3. KOOP, J.O.  The Story of the 55^th (West Lancashire) Division.  Daily Post Primers, Liverpool, 1919.
4. LOVE, Major S.  History of the 520^th (Field) Company, R.E. (T.F.) Formerly Known as the 2/3^rd London (Field) Company, R.E. (T.F.), 1914-1918. War Narratives Publishing Co., London, 1919.
5. Marlborough College Register From 1843-1933.  The Bursar, Marlborough College, Marlborough, 1936.
6. MAUDE, A.H. (editor).  The 47^th (London) Division, 1914-1919.  Amalgamated Press Ltd., London, 1922.
7. PAKENHAM-WALSH, Major-General R.P.  History of the Corps of Royal Engineers, Volume VIII, 1938-1948.  The Institution of Royal Engineers, Chatham, Kent, 1958.
8. SLIM, W.  Defeat Into Victory.  David McKay Company, Inc., New York, 1961.

Census Data  

1. 1891 Census of England and Wales, County of Surrey.  National Archives, Kew, London, Document RG12/624, page 54.
2. 1901 Census of England and Wales, County of Surrey.  National Archives, Kew, London, Document RG13/679, page 110.
3. 1901 Census of England, County of Kent.  National Archives, Kew, London, Document RG13/854, page 19.

 Electoral Rolls  

1. London, 1927 through 1933.
2. London, 1936.
3. London, 1939.
4. London, 1946.
5. London, 1951 through 1961.

Internet Sources  

1. Ancestry.com Family Tree Record.
2. Chelsea Polytechnic.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_College_of_Science_and_Technology
3. COLLETT, N.  Internet Medals Online Notes.
4. Survey of London. http://british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol38/pp262-307
5. Barnes, London.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnes,_London
6. Eastern Army Bengal India: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Command_%28India%29
7. Felsted School. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felsted_School
8. Find My Past:  http://search.findmypast.com/record?id=gbc/1911rg14/00129/0549/4
9. Find My Past:  http://search.findmypast.com/record?id=bmd/d/1974/2/az/000287/067
10. Mayors of Kensington.  http://london.wika.com/wiki/List_of_Mayors_of_Kensington
11. Sandy Douglas.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Douglas
12. The Long, Long Trail. www.1914-1918.net/47div.htm
13. The Long, Long Trail. www.1914-1918.net/55div.htm
14. War Time Memories Project: The 4^th London Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps during the Great War. http://www.wartimememoriesproject.com/greatwar/allied/battalion.php?pid=691#sthash.nOta2YxJ.dpuf

London Gazette  

1. Supplement to the London Gazette, 30 July 1943, p. 3431.
2. Supplement to the London Gazette, 21 September 1943, p. 4173.
3. Supplement to the London Gazette, 15^th June 1985, p. B7.

Miscellaneous Notes  

1. BENNETT, P.  Email dated 8 April 2016, re: Research Work on Quentin Douglas.
2. Handwritten Research Notes of the Previous Owner of the Medal Group.
3. Kensington Central Library, Local Studies Department, email note via Peter Bennett of Charlbury, Oxfordshire, dated 12 April 2016.
4. Marlborough College Archivist, email note dated 13 April 2016.

Pamphlets  

NEATE, G.  Neate Militaria & Antiques, Medal List, November/December 2001, Preston St. Mary, Sudbury.

Official Documents  

1. Army Form B199A.  Officer’s Record of Service.
2. Births Registered in April, May, and June 1892 in the England, p. 156.
3. Baptisms Solemnized in the Parish of Holy Trinity, Barnes in the County of Surrey in the Year 1892, p.75.
4. Borough of Kensington Results of Election of Borough Councillors, Death of Members of Former Royal Borough of Kensington Council, 22^nd May 1974.
5. Certified Copy of an Entry of Death of Quentin Douglas.  General Register Office, Certificate Number QBDAA 091238, dated 15 April 2016.
6. Death Registry, April, May and June 1974.
7. Great War Medal Index Card of Major Quentin Douglas.
8. Nominal Roll of the Recipients of the Coronation Medal, 1953, United Kingdom Issue.
9. Marriage Register, January, February and March 1920, p.231.
10. The Royal Engineers List, 1943, p. xlvii.  R.E. Regular Army Emergency Commission General List.  2^nd Lieutenants with date of rank of 7 November 1939 and acting rank of Major.
11. WO 171/9346.  192 C.R.E. Works.  January to June 1946.  The National Archives, Kew, Public Record

Periodicals  

1. Battle Honours of the Royal Engineers.  The Royal Engineers Journal.  The Institution of Royal Engineers, Chatham, Kent, 1925-1932.
2. Kensington Post, 10 May 1974: Obituary of Major Quentin Douglas.
3. SHEPPARD, F.H.W.  Domestic Buildings after 1851: The Italianate Tradition, in Survey of London: Volume 38, South Kensington Museums Area, London 1975, pp. 262-307.  British History Online. 

Ship and Port Manifests  

1. S.S. Adriatic, 4 May 1929.
2. S.S. Baltic, 10 May 1929.
3. S.S. Baltic, 18 May 1929.
4. S.S. California, 19 November 1935.
5. S.S. Tuscania, 17 October 1935.
6. Port of Niagara Falls, New York, 6 May 1929.

Telephone Directories  

1. London, 1951 through 1955.
2. London, 1958.
3. London, 1960.
4. London, 1962-1963.
5. London, 1967 through 1970.
6. London, 1971.

---

 ENDNOTES

---