For many who know me, I participate in a ceremony known as the ‘Last Post Ceremony’ at the Australian War Memorial.
It is a formal ceremony that that occurs at closing time every day that remembers a fallen member of the Australian Armed Forces and Military Medical units who lost their lives in war.
At a previous ceremony I was informed by an event organiser that it will take 330 years to read a short biography of over 102, 000 Australians lost in war.
The ceremony begins with the singing of the Australian National Anthem, followed by the poignant strains of a lament, played by a piper. Visitors are invited to lay wreaths and floral tributes beside the Pool of Reflection. The Roll of Honour in the Cloisters lists the names of more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations over more than a century. At each ceremony the story behind one of these names is told. The Ode is then recited, and the ceremony ends with the sounding of the Last Post.
On May 27th my partner and I were extremely honoured to attend the ceremony dedicated to 403564 Wing Commander John Keith DOUGLAS of 467 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force.
The following is the biography that was read at the Last Post Ceremony:
“Today, we remember and pay tribute to Wing Commander John Keith Douglas.
John Douglas was born to Thomas and Marion Douglas of Manly, New South Wales on the 17th of June 1921. He attended Knox Grammar School and Scots College, and later became a salesman for David Jones.
Douglas enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force in February 1941 at the age of 19. He showed a great aptitude for flying in his training in Australia and in Canada, where he was sent as a part of the Empire Air Training Scheme. From Canada he went to the United Kingdom where he was seconded to the Royal Air Force for service in Europe.
STANDING BESIDE HIS AIRCRAFT IS LEADING AIRCRAFTMAN JOHN KEITH DOUGLAS AT NO. 8 ELEMENTARY FLYING TRAINING SCHOOL AT NARRANDERA, NSW. MAY 1941.
Douglas was first posted to 103 Squadron, and flew 25 sorties over Europe in Halifax and Lancaster bombers. He flew with great daring and skill. On one occasion he was on a mine-laying operation in heavy cloud. Although his blind flying instruments stopped working, he carried on and finished the mission. On another occasion he was approaching his target over Munich when his aircraft was attacked by an enemy night fighter. Douglas skilfully manoeuvred his plane into a position which enabled his gunners to destroy the fighter, after which he calmly flew over the target. For these exploits he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
HALIFAX HEAVY BOMBERFLIGHT LIEUTENANT J. K. DOUGLAS DFC, WITH HIS UNCLE AND AUNT (DR AND MRS RANDOLPH DOUGLAS, GREENOCK, SCOTLAND) OUTSIDE BUCKINGHAM PALACE AFTER BEING DECORATED BY KING GEORGE VI.02571 PILOT OFFICER (PO) C. R. G. GRANT DFM (LEFT) WON HIS AWARD 1942-11 FOR HIS CONSISTENT SKILL AND DETERMINATION IN NIGHT OPERATIONS OVER ENEMY TERRITORY, AND 403564 FLIGHT LIEUTENANT J. K. DOUGLAS DFC WAS CITED 1943-01 AS “A MOST DETERMINED AND SUCCESSFUL CAPTAIN OF AIRCRAFT WHOSE QUIET CONFIDENCE AND KEEN SPIRIT HAVE BEEN AN INSPIRATION TO ALL.” LONDON, 16 MAY 1943.
In 1944 he switched to flying Lancaster bombers and was posted to 460 Squadron for six operations over Europe. During his time here he was awarded the Air Force Cross, and displayed quiet confidence and a keen spirit. Douglas was a man who commanded respect. In October 1944 he was promoted to Wing Commander and made one of the youngest squadron commanders in the Royal Australian Air Force with command of 467 Squadron. He flew a further seven successful operations over Europe with his new Squadron in a Lancaster bomber.
TALKING ON THE TELEPHONE, WING COMMANDER J. K. DOUGLAS DFC AFC, THE COMMANDING OFFICER OF LANCASTER NO. 460 SQUADRON RAAF AT RAF STATION BINBROOK, LINCOLNSHIRE, ENGLAND. 1944.BINBROOK, ENGLAND. WING COMMANDER JOHN KEITH DOUGLAS DFC AFC, SQUADRON COMMANDER, 460 SQUADRON RAF, FASTENING ON HIS PARACHUTE BESIDE HIS LANCASTER BOMBER.
On the 8th of February 1945, Wing Commander Douglas and his crew flew a sortie against the Dortmund-Ems Canal. Between ten and twenty minutes after leaving the target, the Lancaster bomber gave a great lurch, and had probably been hit by an enemy night fighter. Soon the port wing was on fire and Douglas gave the order to bail out. Four of his crew jumped successfully – three were made prisoners of war and one managed to escape capture and got to England. Three of the crew, including Wing Commander John Douglas, who was holding the plane steady so that the others could get out, did not survive the accident. The bodies of Douglas, his bomb aimer and his navigator were recovered by the Germans and buried. They now lie in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. John Douglas was just 23 years old.
His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, along with some 40,000 Australians who died during the Second World War.
This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Wing Commander John Keith Douglas, his crew mates Pilot Officers Henry Montgomery Stanbrook Stuart and John Barrie Nanscawen, and all of those Australians – as well as our Allies and brothers in arms – who gave their lives in the hope for a better world.”
Forage cap belonging to Wing Commander J K Douglas.
When learning about John Douglas I was struck by this brave and remarkable man. In his short life he accomplished incredible feats.
He was born in Tamworth, in the New England District of NSW, the same region my own Douglas family settled almost 170 years ago. John was the son of a local doctor of Scottish descent where the New England District features with many Scottish migrants who pioneered and settled in the region; particularly the Douglas and today our heritage is celebrated in Glen Innes at the Australian Standing Stones Monument.
John and his family must have moved to Sydney at some stage, but nonetheless it is proud and fitting that this remarkable man has connections with a region that our name features so heavily.
John Douglas was one of the RAAF’s most outstanding leaders. having seen extensive operational service with the Royal Air Force, before taking command of a Royal Australian Air Force Squadron in early 1944. Aged at just 22, he became the youngest ever Australian squadron commander, and one of the youngest in Bomber Command.
He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1943 and the Air Force Cross in 1944. Tragically he and his crew mates died three months to the day before the war ended in Europe.
I was particularly intrigued to learn that John made contact with his Scottish Douglas relatives while serving in the UK, two of whom were with him when he was awarded his Distinguished Flying Cross at Buckingham Palace. What a proud testament to our heritage and of defending our ancient homeland.
The Australian War Memorial is one of Australia’s most remarkable institutions and is rightfully high on many a visitors must-see list. If you’re a visitor to Canberra, I strongly encourage you to visit the War Memorial, particularly at the Closing Ceremony.
Andrew
Authors note:
It was a great pleasure recording this story about John. If you happen to know of any surviving relatives I would be delighted to hear from you.
One hundred years ago this year remains one of the bloodiest and most tragic of Australian history.
Millions of families all over the world were torn apart by a catastrophic and fruitless war. This Douglas family from Sydney, Australia was no exception.
By April 1916 Kenneth, the youngest of the three brothers to enlist in the Great War, must have been eager to join the ranks – and his brothers in the Army. But being 18 years of age at the time he would need his parents permission to enlist because he was under the age of 21. This was something he must have felt certain that his parents would not approve – especially with Allen and Gordon already off fighting the war.
In fact they already refused him permission to enlist on one occasion.
Undeterred, Kenneth travelled by train from Sydney to Goulburn, NSW – undoubtedly without the knowledge of his parents and he did what thousands of young men did at the time to enlist – he lied.
Goulburn Military Camp at the height of World War 1. Now the site of the city Showgrounds.
On his enlistment papers Kenneth used his middle name to identify himself – George Douglass – and he stated his age as 21 years of age.
Verifying a persons identity and age was not as thorough in those days and it was not uncommon for young teenagers or men below the age of parental consent to ‘slip the net’ and enlist into the Armed Forces. This was a common practice in many countries involved in the World Wars.
Kenneth (George Douglass) breezed through his medical examination and was accepted into the Australian Imperial Forces on the 14th of April 1916; he was assigned to C Company, 55th Battalion.
During his training Kenneth transferred to the 56th Battalion at Rutherford Military Camp and later to the 35th Battalion where he remained for the duration of his initial training.
Finally Kenneth and his mates departed Sydney aboard the HMAT Port Sydney on the 4th of September 1916. By this time Kenneth would have been aware that his brother Allen was killed in France, no doubt the angst felt by his family must have been acute as the Port Sydney sailed out of Sydney Harbour bound for Europe.
HMAT Port Sydney departing Sydney Harbour.
On 29 October 1916 Kenneth disembarked at Plymouth, England.
Between August 1916 and November 1917, Training Groups were established across Salisbury Plain in order to train the reinforcements that had arrived with just the basic training having been provided from their time in Australia. Each Division had its own Training Group. For the 3rd Division, which George and his mates were a part, their training was at Durrington with the 9th Training Battalion.
It appears that military life didn’t bode well for young Kenneth; the harsh discipline, intensive and arduous infantry training must have pushed this young man to the edge when on the 13th of December 1916 he was charged for ‘Using obscene language to an NCO’. In today’s military terms this would be considered ‘Insubordination’ or ‘prejudicial conduct’ – or both.
This charge resulted in Kenneth celebrating Christmas 1916 and New Years 1917 in detention at the AIF Detention Centre, on the English south coast at Lewes, East Sussex.
By the end of his 21 day detention all was forgiven and Kenneth completed his training without further incident. On the 5th of March 1917 he deployed to France where he joined his unit – the 35th Battalion.
I can only assume at this point that Kenneth was keen to be with his eldest brother Gordon at the 17th Battalion and he wasted no time in requesting a transfer. For this vulnerable young man the urge to be with his sibling would have been an immense relief.
Tragically though Gordon died three weeks before Kenneth joined the 17th.
On the 5th of May 1917 Kenneth, with a heavy heart, joined the 17th that was reeling from the battles at the Hindenburg Line in the previous month where Gordon was killed and immediately after the second battle of Bullecourt between the 3rd and 4th of May.
Fortunately Kenneth joined the 17th just as they were relieved from the battle and sent to the rear. One could not imagine the shock he must have felt at joining his unit at a time of intense stress and horrendous scenes.
During the northern summer months of 1917 the 17th were spared from any further heavy fighting and spent the remainder of May to September on recuperation, training and preparing for what’s to come. Meanwhile the Commanders were planning their next bloody, costly offensive.
20 September 1917.
The Battle of Menin Road was an offensive operation, part of the Third Battle of Ypres on the Western Front, undertaken by the British Second Army in an attempt to take sections of the curving ridge, east of Ypres, which the Menin Road crossed. This action saw the first involvement of Australian units side-by-side (1st and 2nd Divisions AIF) in the Third Battle of Ypres.
The attacks were carried out along the entire Ypres front, though the advancing troops had to overcome formidable entrenched German defensive positions which included mutually supporting concrete pill-box strong-points and also resist fierce German counter-attacks.
One such concrete pill-box became known as ‘ANZAC House’ and became one of the most dramatic scenes of the entire conflict.
Artists impression of the capture of ‘ANZAC House.’
Nearby the men of the 17th commenced their attack at 5.40 am after 5 days of bombardment; 11 divisions of the British Expeditionary Force armies struck the Germans on a 13 kilometre front. The Australian 1st and 2nd Divisions, along with a Scottish Division, were the centre of the assault along Westhoek Ridge facing Glencorse Wood, with a combined front of 1,800 metres.
It was the first occasion in the war in which two Australian Divisions attacked side by side. The Australians overcame enemy infantry opposition and advanced steadily for almost one kilometre to the first objective known as the “Red Line”. It ran along a sunken road, the north edge of Glencorse Wood to Honnebeck swamp and bogs in the None Borsden Copse.
After an hour to resupply and reorganise the Australians continued to the second objective, the “Blue Line”, which was about 500 metres from the previous objective. The “Blue Line” was fixed from Iron Cross Redoubt in the north to Albert Redoubt, Verbeck Farm and part of Polygon Wood in the south. After capturing this second objective the Australians waited another two hours before attacking their third objective what the Germans aptly named the ‘Wilhelm Line’, roughly parallel and 200 metres beyond the “Blue Line”.
By noon, the Australians had taken all the objectives and were at the western end of Polygon Wood.
Official war photographer Frank Hurley wrote; ‘The Menin Rd is one of the, if not the, most ghastly approach on the whole front. Accretions of broken limbers, materials & munitions lay in piles on either side, giving the road the appearance of running through a cutting. Any time of the day it may be shelled & it is absolutely impossible owing to the congested traffic for the Boche to avoid getting a coup with each shell. The Menin road is like passing through the Valley of death, for one never knows when a shell will lob in front of him. It is the most gruesome shambles I have ever seen…’
Frank took this picture of the scene:
Minutes after this picture was taken on the 20th of September 1917, an artillery shell landed amongst the men laying on the stretchers, killing them all.
Although the Third Battle of Ypres was a success for the Allies, it was a scene of abstract horror. For young George no one could possibly imagine the fear and terror he was experiencing.
But his fears were over in just a few short terrible hours. Just as he and his mates reached their final objective, George was tragically killed.
Over a year later this Red Cross report revealed what happened.
In a strange twist of terrible fate, George died in exactly the same way his eldest brother Gordon died, the brother George tried to reunite with and survive this awful war together.
Sadly, no personal effects belonging to Kenneth were found. It wasn’t until 1926 when Kenneth’s body was recovered and buried at Birr Cross Roads Military Cemetery was an identity disc belonging to him recovered from his remains and sent to his parents.
Needless to say Kenneth’s actions of using a false name when enlisting caused some confusion with authorities trying to memorialise his name by various means. Eventually they got it right but not before his father wrote to Base Records;
I will accept it as it is. It does not matter correct spelling or initials. My wife & self know only too well to whom it refers to.
Gordon, Allen and Kenneth were three victims of one of the deadliest conflicts in the history of the human race, in which over 16 million people died. It was a brutal introduction to modern warfare, the world would never be the same again.
The conflict achieved very little other than ousted monarchs and a change in the political landscape. It planted the seeds to an even greater and far more brutal world war just 20 years later.
This year marks 100 years since the Douglas brothers went off to war and never came home. Their loss, the loss of so many more was so futile and tragic.
As this final chapter is about to be published, the day before ANZAC Day 2017, I hope this serves as a memorial to the memory of Gordon, Allen and Kenneth. And to their parents George and Mary Douglas.
I know tomorrow, I will be thinking of them.
“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Lest we forget”
Kenneth Allen Gordon
The end.
Authors note:
Writing these stories has been one of the most difficult projects I have undertaken over recent years when I first learned of the Douglas brothers. Difficult in terms of emotional toll. Difficult in terms of research and time.
I had hoped to put their story into print and publish a book. Maybe that’s a bridge too far to accomplish.
But I have been drawn into the lives of this family as I research every angle to tell their story. I would be delighted to learn if there are any surviving relatives.
If you can help or think you may know someone who can provide information about this Douglas family, I would love to hear from you.
News of the loss of Allen would surely have been a terrible blow to the Douglas family, their worst fears were realised in a pink telegram.
For George and Mary in particular their quest for news of the fate of their sons, their personal belongings, or any shred of information was about to begin. While reading through the service dossiers of each of these men I came across many handwritten letters from both parents – the contents of which are hard to read.
Even 100 years later these personal letters to Army Headquarters begging for news as to the fate of their sons, is a bitter read. They are still too personal, too emotional, to share here, their pain in carefully written letters are reflected thousands of times over by thousands of parents and wives.
We’re not exactly sure why Gordon chose to enlist so long after the initial wave of enthusiasm when war was declared in 1914. Perhaps it was a desire to be with his younger brother Allen but nonetheless he left his terrace house he shared with his wife at 72 Bondi Road, Bondi, and set off to the nearby enlistment office at Victoria Barracks in Paddington. Perhaps it was his desire to provide for his own family was what driven him.
It was during my research into Gordon that a little family mystery has appeared.
According to the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages Gordon married ‘Harriet Shaw’ in 1912. However in Gordon’s service records his next of kin is recorded as his wife ‘Ethel Douglas’ and has a step-child known as ‘May’.
Despite my best efforts I haven’t been able to shed any further light into this mystery.
Part 2.
GORDON
On the 25th of August 1915 Gordon became the second of the Douglas brothers to enlist into the Australian Imperial Force at exactly the same location his younger brother Allen did in April earlier that year.
Gordon was assigned the 17th Battalion, as an Infantry soldier.
The 17th Battalion was raised at Liverpool in New South Wales in March 1915 as part of the 5th Brigade. It left Australia in early May, trained in Egypt from mid-June until mid-August, and on 20 August landed at ANZAC Cove, five days before Gordon enlisted.
After his initial training on the 2nd November 1915 Gordon bid farewell to his wife Ethel and probably his parents and younger siblings. He sailed to Egypt aboard HMAT ‘Euripides’ where soon after arriving he contracted Influenza and was hospitalised in Cairo between 17 to 21st of December. Luckily for Gordon he was spared from the carnage on Gallipoli.
Departing Australian troops and nurses aboard the HMAT Euripides.
After the 17th was evacuated from Gallipoli Gordon joined the Battalion for further training in Egypt prior to sailing to France. It was during this time Gordon would have to seen his brother Allen as they were all co-located together at the same training camp.
Finally the Australian Imperial Force based in Egypt were ordered to France and so in the late afternoon of the 17th of March the officers and men of the 17th sailed to Marseilles aboard the HMT Crispan. Unfortunately Gordon and Allen battalions were deployed aboard separate vessels two days apart and thus didn’t travel together from Egypt to northern France.
Just as Allen’s 20th Battalion introduction to the Western Front, so too did Gordon’s 17th Battalion was no less traumatic. Both Allen and Gordon were defending the same locality at ‘Bois-Grenier’ and soon both of them took part in the Battle of Pozieres where tragically Allen was killed.
Gordon’s hardship and misery didn’t end there. The 17th Battalion went on to take part in the defence of the Australian sector of the Western Front under extreme conditions. The Battalion returned to the Pozieres trenches for a second time, although in a reserve role, between 18 and 28 August. After a spell in a quieter sector of the front in Belgium, the Battalion came south again in October. The 17th Battalion was spared from having to mount an attack across the quagmire the Somme battlefield had become, but did have to continue manning the front through the very bleak winter of 1916/17.
It was during this time that Gordon saw a rapid rise in promotion due to the hardships of war service on the Western Front that saw many vacant ranked positions needing replacing.
On the 10th of August he was promoted to Lance Corporal. The following year in January 21st he was promoted to Corporal and only two months later he was promoted again to Lance Sergeant.
Australian soldiers on the Somme – December 1916.
The Hindenburg Line
While Gordon and his mates endured the harsh European winter the German Army, under considerable strain from combat on two fronts, constructed a prepared defensive position some three kilometres behind their front-line trenches.
This became the beginning of a formidable and renowned German capability – the defensive fortification – and a significant barrier to allied advances.
By March 1917 the German Army units began withdrawing to their newly constructed defensive line – the allies, not being blind to events, quickly followed-up the retreating Germans. In an attempt to capitalise on their gains over the Germans the British high command decided to press home the advantage and immediately attack the Hindenburg Line.
For Gordon, the hardships he endured were alleviated somewhat by the news that his young brother Kenneth had applied to be transferred to the 17th Battalion. It goes without saying that Gordon would have been relieved to have Kenneth with him, to protect his little brother and survive this hell.
The First Battle of Bullecourt
Bullecourt is a village in northern France that formed part of the German defensive positions at the Hindenburg Line.
The British High Command planned to use the 4th Australian Division and the 62nd British Division to attack the Hindenburg Line near the village of Bullecourt. Rather than wait until there was sufficient artillery resources, the decision was to employ a dozen tanks to lead the troops through the enemy’s barbed-wire.
An attack set for 10 April was suddenly abandoned when the tanks did not arrive. It went ahead the next morning with disastrous results. Exposed to murderous machine-gun and artillery fire the Australians were forced back to their own lines while tanks stood burning on the battlefield. The Australians had 3,000 men killed or wounded; 1,170 Australians soldiers taken prisoner; this was the largest capture of Australian prisoners up until the fall of Singapore in 1942. Many survivors remained bitter about such a futile waste.
Charles Bean, the Official Historian for the Australian Imperial Force summed up the feeling: ‘Bullecourt, more than any other battle, shook the confidence of Australian soldiers in the capacity of the British command; the errors, especially on April 10th and 11th, were obvious to almost everyone’.
Fortunately for Allen and his men, they were spared from the disaster at Bullecourt; but the Germans weren’t finished with the Australians and Gordon and his men faced them at nearby Lagnicourt.
Observing that the 1st Australian Division was holding a front of about 12,000 meters, the local German corps commander planned a spoiling attack to drive back the advanced posts, destroy supplies and guns and then retire to the Hindenburg defences. Passing his plans to higher command, they assigned an extra division to his corps to further strengthen the attack.
Attacking with 23 battalions, the German forces managed to penetrate the Australian front line at the junction on the 1st Australian Division and 2nd Australian Division and occupy the village of Lagnicourt (damaging some Australian artillery pieces).
The War Diary of the 17th Battalion records the following:
German attacks broke through 12 Battalion on our right at 4:55 AM. This left our right flank in the air were were forced to retire to our outpost line with right Coy under Lieut Shappard at 5:20 AM. By this time the enemy were well in the rear of our right and were almost down to NOREUIL.
We counter attacked at 6 AM in conjunction with 19th and 20th Battalions and by 8 AM had regained all lost ground.
We captured two machine guns and 54 prisoners. There were some hundreds of dead in front of our positions.
Our casualties were 5 officers wounded.
43 OR killed.
82 OR wounded.
51 OR missing.
Tragically Gordon was one of the men killed that day.
Later, a Lieutenant Smith of the 17th stated to Red Cross investigators;
I knew Douglas, his initial was G, and he was a Sergeant when he was killed. He was in C Company. He was medium in height, inclined to be fair, medium build.
He was in charge of a small post in front of the Hindenburg Line at Noreuil on 15/4/17; on the afternoon of that day the Hun located the machine gun at Douglas’ post. About 3 p.m. the German’s registered with Heavy Artillery on that post and got direct hits on to this post; one shell hit Douglas direct and killed him outright. I was there at the time, Pte White was on the same post and was killed the same way.
Douglas was a real good chap.
Further corroborating evidence from the Red Cross investigation into Gordon’s fate confirmed that Gordon died from a direct hit by an artillery shell and that his body was ‘blown to bits’. What remained of his body was hastily buried on the spot.
Within weeks Gordons wife Ethel would be visited by the feared telegram boy and tearfully opened the envelope that contained the dreaded pink telegram.
It would take almost another year before Gordon’s personal effects reached her. A damaged wristwatch, some handkerchiefs, a corkscrew, two brushes, a notebook and a balaclava are all that remained of Gordon.
Today, Gordon has no known grave. His name is among 10,773 names of Australian soldiers with no known grave, engraved on the walls of the ‘Villers–Bretonneux Australian National Memorial’ in northern France.
Never in the history of human conflict has a war been so futile, so pointless and so wasteful than the Great War of 1914 – 1918.
In terms of scale of life lost and size of wanton destruction World War One still resonates loudly in our subconscious. The long ago battles, lives lost and the sheer catastrophe is still remembered 100 or so years later and likely never to be forgotten.
The futile nature of this war directly led to another devastating conflict 20 years later that was far more destructive and far more global; the sheer tragedy of World War One still touches the human emotion unlike any conflict before or since.
For the young nations of Australia and New Zealand this conflict was a particularly brutal introduction to the world stage.
By the time the Great War broke out Australia’s population was just under 5 million in a nation barely 14 years old. About 420, 000 men enlisted, representing about 38% of the male population aged between 18 and 44. By the end of the war over 60, 000 Australians died in service. The casualty rate was 68%, one of the highest rates suffered by a nation during the war.
Not one family in Australia was left untouched by the tragedy. Thousands of husbands, fathers, brothers and sons were lost forever in a conflict so far from home. Every locality, village, town, suburb and city throughout Australia erected memorials to their fallen sons; their only tangible link to those that are lost. The only place to mourn for thousands.
This is their story; the story of the thousands of fathers, mothers, wives, children and siblings who lost their loved ones. This is the story of the Douglas brothers, whose life and loss represents all that we have lost.
Very little is known about the Douglas family who resided in a traditional inner Sydney terrace house at number 9 Bridge Street; in the suburb of Erskineville during the late 19th, early 20th century. George and Mary Douglas were married in 1884 in Paddington and soon their family grew.
9 Bridge St, Erskineville today.
During the 1890’s the parents George and Mary ran a full household of four boys; Gordon, Allan, George and Angus and from what we do know, there were three daughters; Georgina, Elsie and Gladys.
The eldest child, Georgina, was born in 1884 (the same year George and Mary married). The family rapidly grew with Elsie arriving in 1885, Gordon 1889, Gladys 1893, Allen 1896, George arrived in 1898 and finally the family was completed with the arrival of Angus in 1900.
We’re unsure of what Edward did to provide for his family but judging by the residence it can be safely assumed that his line of employment provided well for the family.
Terrace houses such as the Douglas home are not too dissimilar throughout inner Sydney. However size and style did vary in accordance to social standing. Colonial architects at the time designed housing and neighbourhoods very closely to the towns and villages of the old country; a reflection on their architectural and engineering education in the UK.
The Douglas household was within a neighbourhood tightly packed with other terrace homes located close to factories and the busy Sydney railway tracks. Although the colony was prosperous by comparison to Europe the Australian colonies were however reeling from a harsh economic depression and poor working conditions.
The 1890’s saw the rise of the Labor movement and constitutional referendums passing throughout the Australian colonies to create a unified Australian nation; the Douglas family welcomed in the new millennium with a sense of hope and optimism.
Railway Square in 1910. Nearby to the Douglas household.
Being inner-Sydney residents the Douglas family witnessed some momentous events in early Australian history. They survived the bubonic plague outbreak in 1900, they witnessed the Federation of the Australian colonies to form the Commonwealth of Australia in a ceremony that took place just a few miles from their home. The arrival of ‘the Great White Fleet’ – for the first time an entire battle group of foreign navy ships visited Australia. Canberra was proclaimed our national capital and in the few short years after Federation Australia was already witnessing a revolving door of Prime Ministers!
On the home front there was even more cause for celebration in the Douglas household when Gordon married his sweetheart Harriet Shaw in 1912.
However, the lives of this Douglas family and so many more families were about to be changed forever as the storm clouds of war were gathering on the other end of the globe.
In what we perceive today as a ludicrous series of events as nation after nation declared war upon each other and whose monarchs were all related to each other the crisis in Europe was rapidly turning into a very deadly family feud.
With almost youthful exuberance British Empire nations followed ‘the Mother Country’ blindly into war. And so, the 4th of August 1914, Australia was officially at war and the Douglas family was about to face their terrible fate.
Part 1.
ALLAN
Allan Edward Douglas was not among the first to volunteer in 1914 however upon enlisting into the 1st Australian Imperial Force he indicated that he had previously served in the Militia. However I have been unable to substantiate this information. What I have established through his official service record was that he enlisted on the 1st of April 1915 and was allocated the Infantry Corps; his service number was 848 and assigned to C Company, 20th Battalion.
The 20th Battalion was raised at Liverpool, New South Wales in March 1915 as part of the 5th Brigade, 2nd Division. Some of the 20th’s original recruits had already served with the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force in the operations to capture German New Guinea in 1914. This unit would go on to feature heavily in almost every theatre the AIF were engaged and suffered greatly as a result.
Allan listed himself as a ‘Printer’ in his enlistment papers and he was recorded as 5 feet 8 3/4 inches, weighing in at 159 lbs; chest measurements at 34 1/2. 37 inches.
His complexion was described as ‘dark’ with brown eyes and black hair. His religious denomination indicated Church of England.
Interestingly Allan lied about his age when enlisting. It is unknown why, Allan was 19 years old when enlisting; however in the absence of his precise age at the time it can only be assumed that Allan was in fact 18 at the time he signed the dotted line as he was impatient at signing up. Between August 1914 to June 1915 the age limits for enlistment were 19 to 38 years. After June 1915 the age limits were adjusted to 18 and 45.
During the first year of the war 33% of applicants were rejected which gives cause to believe the reasons why Allan lied about his age. A lie that was repeated thousands of times by young men eager to enlist.
Ever since this time Liverpool and nearby Ingleburn in Sydney’s south-west has long held a close association to the Australian military. The forests to Liverpool’s south at Holsworthy still today house Australian military installations, indeed the author of this article has spent a lot of time in the vicinity wearing the Australian Army uniform.
During the Great War the Liverpool military camps were a hive of activity as thousands of men marched in from the streets, marched out in uniform and many of them were never to return home.
New Recruits arriving at Liverpool military camp Ca.1915.
Gallipoli
After initial training was completed in June 1915 Allen and his mates of the 20th Battalion sailed from Sydney to Egypt aboard the HMT Berrima. There they underwent further training before deploying to Gallipoli on the 16th of August 1915.
Allen landed on ANZAC Cove on the 22nd of August; which was during the last stages of the ‘August Offensive’. This was the last ditch effort by the allies to break out of the stalemate that had existed on the peninsula since the landings on the 25th of April.
The 20th arrived too late to play any significant role in ill-fated August Offensive and were assigned defensive duties at ‘Russell’s Top’ – a ridge that connects a geological feature known as ‘the Sphinx’ to ‘the Nek’; the scene of the tragic charge of the 3rd Light Horse Brigade.
The view along the trenches at Russell’s Top. 1915.
Allen and his mates remained at ANZAC until the evacuation on the 20th of December. The most successful stage of the entire campaign, to escape without loss of life.
There is nothing to report whether Allen sustained any injuries during his time on Gallipoli. Most activity during his stay there was focussed purely on defence and staying alive.
After a brief rest on Mudros island the 20th disembarked at Alexandria, Egypt on the 9th of January 1916; where they were again back on familiar training ground – this time in preparation for France.
It was during this period that Allen had his first transgression by being absent without leave between the 18th to the 23rd of January. This wasn’t a particularly unusual occurence among the ANZACs. They were notorious for their unruly behaviour, particularly in Egypt. It’s fair to say that Allen and his mates probably partied a little too hard in Cairo.
He was admonished for his transgression and forfeited his pay for the period of his absence. But it wasn’t long before Allen was again hauled before his Commanding Officer for being charged for obscene language on the 11th of March. He was again admonished for his trouble.
Allen didn’t have long to dwell on his behaviour, the 20th were deployed to France on the 18th of March aboard the HMT Ingoma and arrived in Marseilles on the 25th of that month.
France
Unfortunately for the men of the 20th they didn’t have time to enjoy the sights of Southern France. They disembarked from the Ingoma at 11am and were entrained by 4pm and for the following three days they were bound for northern France and the battlefields of the Western Front.
1916 – a troop train carrying Australian soldiers from Marseilles to Le Havre taking a rest stop. The soldiers are seen stretching their legs and picking flowers to decorate the carriages.
The 20th finally arrived at their training camp at Steenbecque and spent the remainder of the month and the first week of April preparing for the horrors to follow.
On the 11th of April the Battalion deployed to Bois-Grenier where they took up reserve and front-line defensive positions. For the remainder of April and throughout May the 20th remain on the front-line, rotating in reserve positions periodically.
The Battalion war diary reports sporadic artillery barrages from the Germans that sadly resulted in casualties. However the 20th continued consolidating their defensive positions and yet, in a strange twist of fate the 20th became the first Australian unit to be raided by the Germans with disastrous consequences.
On the evening of 5 May at 7.40pm, just as dusk began to fall, a German twin–seater aeroplane flew overhead and dropped a small red balloon over a battalion headquarters in the cluster of ruined buildings known as ‘White City’. Minutes later, a bombardment crashed down on the Australian positions all along the 400 yard front held by 5 Brigade, concentrating on the apex of the ‘Bridoux Salient’ which was less than 90 yards from the German trenches. It stupefied the company of 20th Battalion men occupying the salient and its support position, the Chord Line.
After what would have seemed an eternity, the shelling let up after a two–hour battering. Stunned, deafened and weary survivors emerged from the debris to find trenches violently ripped apart and machine–guns from across no man’s land stammering away at the holes in the parapet. Green, red and white Very lights lit the scene as clear as day, casting a mystifying display of shadows as the flares swayed gently in the breeze.
The experience was the severest the Australians had yet endured. But the worst was yet to come.
The Australians suffered heavily in this, their first bombardment on the Western Front, with 23 men killed, 72 wounded and 13 missing within a matter of hours. But it wasn’t until the following morning that it became obvious what had happened. The discovery of a trench raiding club and six German hand grenades on the parados of the firing trench gave a very strong indication that the enemy had attacked the Bridoux Salient.
It later became known that 11 of the 13 missing were taken prisoner and two new weapons, the Stokes mortars, were missing.
German aerial reconnaissance image of theBridoux Salient.
Such was the introduction to the Western Front for the Australians and this first foray with the enemy was a blight on the 20th Battalions prestige.
Australian soldiers in the trenches at Bois-Grenier, June 1916.
Whatever intelligence the enemy gained from their successful raid on the 20th Battalion was non consequential as the planned British offensive on the Somme was still to go ahead.
Surprisingly despite Allen’s past transgressions that brought him the ire of his Commanding Officer, they were quickly forgotten and Allen was promoted to Lance Corporal on the 25th of May.
A Lance Corporal in the Australian Army holds the position of second-in-command in a section or troop of soldiers comprising up to ten men. He is responsible for the administration of his men and acts as an understudy to the Corporal in charge of the section.
Pozières
On the 1st of July 1916 the Somme offensive began. It was one of the most brutal campaigns of the war that resulted in over a million casualties on both sides of the wire.
Australia’s brutal introduction to major combat on the Western Front was at ‘Fromelles’ on the evening of the 19th of July. In what was meant to be a diversionary attack to draw German attention away from the Somme battlefields soon turned into a bloodbath with over 5, 000 Australian casualties for no ground taken and it crippled the fighting capability of the 5th Australian Division.
99 years later I was working with the Unrecovered War Casualties section of the Australian Army where I was helping with the ‘Fromelles Project‘. This project was set-up to identify the remains of 250 Australian and British soldiers found in unmarked burial pits in 2008.
100 years later the worst night in Australian military history is still felt.
For Allen and his mates of the 20th Battalion their fate was no less grim.
On the 26th of July the entry in the 20th Battalion’s War Diary states:
Attack launched at 3:21am in 3 columns and one carrying party in rear. Coy badly cut up by rifle and machine gun fire and held up by uncut enemy wire. Right attacking Col. under Capt R.R. Harper entered enemy trenches and hung on there for 1 hour. Bombs being finished party had to retire back to our own front line.
Casualties (estimated) 2 officers (Capt R.R. Harper, Lieut A.S. Evans wounded) 200 o. Ranks killed, wounded and missing.
During day Bn assembled at GORDON DUMP (Sausage Valley)
The battle at Pozières raged until 6 August, with both 1 and 2 Australian Divisions having suffered over 12 000 casualties. Of them was Allen.
After the 20th Battalion attacked the German positions on the 26th and the subsequent heavy fighting thereafter for the next 24 hours the confusion and ‘fog of war’ prevented the 20th of taking full stock of their losses.
So it was on Allen’s service record he was recorded as ‘missing in action’ on the 30th of July.
Australian Stretcher Bearers at Pozieres.
The arrival of a uniformed junior postal worker on a bicycle was often a devastating sign for a family. It meant a telegram announcing the death or injury of a loved one, and one can only imagine how those young employees must have hated that duty.
As she was handed ‘the dreaded pink telegram’ no one can possibly imagine the fear Mary Douglas was feeling. Reading its contents she must have felt some sense of hope, ‘missing in action’ it reads.
But it would be nine agonising months before George and Mary Douglas were formally notified of Allan’s death. Via a notice from the Red Cross stating his death occurred on the 26th of July.
At the end of April 1917 George and Mary received a package from the Army containing Allen’s personal effects; a writing case, note pad, a book, corkscrew and playing cards.
On the 13th of May it was recorded on Allan’s service record;
979 Pte ROBERTS, A. M 20 Bn.
On the night of 30/7/16 at POZIERES, when ‘C’ Company attacked and captured the Hun trench. He was firing his rifle, when I saw him killed by a rifle bullet in the head.
Soon after George and Mary would have received the news confirming Allen’s fate, they would have received this news not long after the dreadful news informing the them of the death of one more of their sons.
Embarrassingly for the Army George and Mary were informed of Allen’s fate through a Red Cross investigation whose report contained the following:
“Witness states that he saw the above killed at Pozieres on July 26th. He was on top of the parapet when he was hit and they had to retire afterwards, witness was unable to say what happened to the body. “
The witness was also the same witness who provided the original information provided in Allen’s file. It’s unsure why the 30th of July was initially indicated as his date of death, probably because this was when it was established that he was indeed missing.
A cross examination of the Battalion’s War Diary reveals no combat activity on the 30th and no deaths recorded. Therefore in accordance to the Battalions War Diary entry for the 26th and the witness’s revised statement to the Red Cross it can be confirmed that Allen did indeed die on the 26th of July 1916.
This draws us to the conclusion that Allen was under the command of Capt R. R. Harper in the Right Hand Column of the 20th Battalions order of battle. This column was successful in capturing an enemy trench and fought hard to hold it. The battle scene must have been horrendous and the bravery of the men of the 20th astonishing.
It’s not known how Allens body was recovered but what we do know is that Allen lies with his mates at the Pozieres British Cemetery.
This article originally appeared as a facebook post on the Clan Douglas Australia facebook page on 21 November 2016 and is reproduced here for your reading leisure.
Did you know that Clan Douglas has very close links to a once famous British Army Regiment?
In March, 1689 the ‘Cameronian Guard’ was first raised by James Douglas, Earl of Angus, outside the village of Douglas, South Lanarkshire. Officially known as ‘The Earl of Angus’s Regiment’, it became popularly known as ‘The Cameronians’ until 1751.
‘The Cameronians’ takes its name from Richard Cameron, a Scottish religious reformer and covenanting leader from the Scottish Lowlands, and was raised largely from the tenantry of the Marquess of Douglas, chief of Clan Douglas.
The Cameronian regiment subsequently became the ’26th (The Cameronian) Regiment of Foot’ in the service of King William II of Scotland (King William III of England) The Cameronians had the rare and unique position of serving TWO countries.
They quickly saw action at the Battle of Dunkeld and successfully held the town from a furious Jacobite attack. Afterwards the Cameronians employed to restore order in the Highlands.
The Cameronians at the defence of Dunkeld, 1689.
One of the regimental traditions carried down over the years was to issue a bible to every new recruit; another was that the troops went under arms to church services (they were the only unit in the British Army permitted to do this), and the service only started after sentries had been posted on four sides of the church building (to protect the worshipers from attack). Its unusual religious background was reflected in the regulation that each company was to have an elder, as well as the regimental chaplain being a Cameronian.
In 1697 the British Parliament unrestful that the Monarchy have control over a large standing army set about disbanding all units formed since 1680. King William responded by sending a number of regiments, including the Cameronians, onto the strength of the Dutch establishment, where they would not need to be supported by Parliament. Thus the Cameronians were in the service of a THIRD country!
They were returned to the English establishment in 1700.
Subsequently the Cameronians saw the following active service:
War of Spanish Succession 1701 – 15;
First Jacobite Rising 1715;
The Siege of Gibraltar 1727;
For some strange twist of fate in 1751 the Cameronian Regiment was renamed the ’26th Regiment of Foot’ – completely dropping the Earl of Angus title and the Cameronian name.
The 26th Regiment of Foot went on to service in British North America in 1767 – just in time for the American War of Independence.
The Regiment saw heavy action and were decimated during the defence of Canada. What was left of the Regiment served in New York, New Jersey and Staten Island before being sent home to the UK in 1779 to regroup.
The uniform of a Cameronian at the time of the American War of Independence.
IN 1783 through petition to the King the traditional title of “Cameronian” was restored to the Regiment.
The Regiment went on to active service throughout the Napoleonic wars in Egypt, Germany and Spain between 1801 to 1815.
Throughout the 19th century the Regiment performed garrison duties within the British Empire from Canada to Bermuda. South Africa to India.
In the meantime the Regiment further established traditions by adopting the Douglas Tartan on their uniform trews and kilts and was the only Scottish Regiment not from the Highlands to employ pipers.
In 1883 in the wake of reforms to the British Army the 26th Cameronian Regiment of Foot was amalgamated with 90th Regiment of Foot (Perthshire Volunteers) to form as the the ‘Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)’ Regiment.
‘The Cameronians went on to serve and suffered greatly in the Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War.
Under the reforms of the army in the 1967 The British Defence White Paper ordered several regiments to be amalgamated, the Cameronians chose to disband rather than amalgamate with another in the Lowland Brigade.
By this time only one battalion was left in the Regiment, the 1st Battalion. The Cameronians were disbanded on 14 May 1968 at Douglas Castle, near Douglas, South Lanarkshire in the presence of the Duke of Hamilton, the Earl of Angus.
The official uniform tartan of the Cameronians worn on that day was of course, the Douglas Tartan.
Cover photo: The 1st Bn The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) silver plated Piper’s glengarry badge, with Clan Douglas tartan. This Piper’s glengarry badge was one of a very small number issued to the Pipers prior to the disbandment parade at Castle Dangerous on the 14th May 1968.
What I have established through his official service record was that he enlisted on the 1st of April 1915 and was allocated the Infantry Corps; his service number was 848 and assigned to C Company, 20th Battalion.
Douglas 