Maj-Gen William Douglas

[stevenbecker]

Mates,

Any ideas on who this is?

DOUGLAS    William        Maj Gen    British Army    CO Desert Column 1916 KCMG CB DSO

S.B
 

[charlie962]

Wiki 

"William Douglas (British Army officer, died 1920) - Wikipedia" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Douglas_(British_Army_officer,_died_1920)

42nd East Lancs Division  

Took temporary command of Desert Column 23Oct -early Dec 1916.

Edited 26 August , 2022 by charlie962

[aconnolly]

Steve - from 42nd Div history. 

 

[stevenbecker]

Mates,

Thank you

I did see something on his grave that said he died from injuries, but no reason of why or what injuries.

Cheers

S.B

[michaeldr]

Steve,

There's a useful 2 page bio of him in 'Gallipoli Diary 1915' by Alec Riley (though the bio of Douglas must be by one of the editors – Michael Crane or Bernard de Broglio)
He was not popular with either his officers or his men. He was apparently universally known as 'Little Willie,' had an abrasive nature and tried to micro-manage even local operations.
One NCO told Chaplain Best that if Douglas were to die then it would be either a direct hit by a shell on his dugout, or a bullet from one of his own men.
His ADC was Captain Harold Crawley (an MP) and he wrote to his father about the general
“He has a third rate brain, no capacity to grasp the lie of the land and originality or ingenuity. He has been to the trenches three times since he landed, hurried visits on which he saw nothing and he hardly ever goes to an observation point with his field glasses.”

regards, Michael

[edit to emphasise that of course all of the above refers to his time on Gallipoli. For Alec Riley's 'Gallipoli Diary 1915' see

]

Edited 27 August , 2022 by michaeldr

[charlie962]

5 hours ago, michaeldr said:

He has a third rate brain, no capacity to grasp the lie of the land and originality or ingenuity. He has been to the trenches three times since he landed, hurried visits on which he saw nothing and he hardly ever goes to an observation point with his field glasses.”

Is he not typical of the handicap that was imposed on a force that should otherwise have succeeded?

[michaeldr]

Good point Charlie

Of the generals at Helles he was perhaps (?) less so typical, but of the bunch brought across for the Suvla part of the campaign, then certainly there were more than a few who were of this limited class of ability.

[EastSurrey]

Gibbon in his history of the 42nd Division (p.87) says of  Douglas that the Division had 'been fortunate in a commander who had ever taken a personal interest in the welfare of all ranks under his command, and had identified himself with the Lancashire men and was jealous of their good name.' He goes on to criticise, by implication, Bertram Mitford, who had the job of getting the Division fit for Western Front service after serving in Egypt for the previous 15 months under Douglas. (see my article in 'Stand To!' October 2021).

Michael