Allen Grant Douglas

His army career suggests a born leader. Quick to enlist in 1914 he was quick to be commissioned, on 15th December 1914, from Lance-corporal to 2nd Lieutenant in the 14th Battalion of the London Regiment (London Scottish). Promoted to temporary Captain just over a year later and with the added duties of Adjutant, he distinguished himself in battle and in July 1916 he was awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. Under continuous shell fire he went forward and, reorganising companies, made a bombing attack and cleared the enemy out of the trenches. The citation notes that, ‘He performed his duties as Adjutant with great energy and efficiency’. Captain Douglas had seen a great deal of active service by the time he led his men into action at the Battle of Cambrai.

In 1917 the British attempted to break Germany’s defensive Hindenburg line at Cambrai. The assault began on 20th November and was notable for the first major use of tanks. Initially this was very successful but in the following days it became clear that tanks were not invulnerable. German resistance and the enemy’s biggest counter-offensive since 1914 led to heavy losses on both sides, among them Captain Allen Grant Douglas, probably during the British attempt to take Bourlon Ridge on 30th November. A letter from his commanding officer, Colonel E.D.Jackson informed his parents that he had been struck by a rifle bullet. He wrote, ‘It is impossible for me to say what Allen’s death means to the Battalion and to me…I cannot speak too highly of Allen’s work as Adjutant.’ He is buried at Moeuvres Cemetery near Cambrai and remembered on the memorial in St.Mary’s churchyard, Westerham, Kent.