Lieutenant Donald Cameron Douglas, Royal Navy received a
Mention in Dispatches for gallantry and undaunted devotion to duty
in the face of overwhelming odds whilst serving in H.M.S. Electra,
lost in action in the Java Sea on 27th February, 1942. (
1)
Lt Douglas then appears to have transferred to HMS Stratagem,
Commanded by Lt Cmdr Clifford Raymond Pelly DSC.
On 22nd
November 1944, on a calm morning three miles southwest of Malacca,
HMS Stratagem was at periscope depth and watched a patrol plane and
a Japanese destroyer. It was later established that a reconnaissance
aircraft of the Japanese Navy had spotted and reported HMS
Stratagem. At 12:10, the order was given dive. For four minutes, the
crew listened in silence to the echoes as the destroyer
which approached. Almost immediately, a grenade exploded underwater
very close to the submarine, hitting the bow, plunging it into
darkness. Five seconds later, a second explosion occurred and the
first compartments began to be fill with water.
Attempts to
close the locks (watertight doors?) were a failure and the crew was forced to abandon
ship. Of the 48 crew, only 7 crew members survived the attack. They
were captured, separated and sent to Japanese prison camps in
Singapore. Only two survived and were released in September 1945;
Lieutenant Donald Cameron Douglas, responsible diving and launching
torpedoes, who was later to later write a detailed report of the
loss of HMS Stratagem, and Michael Mills (who later published the
report of Lieutenant Douglas).
Donald Douglas married
Philippa Charlotte Norris c1943. In their obituary, they are
described as beloved parents of Caroline, James and Sarah. However,
they lost two of their sons in their childhood (one at a few months
old and the second son at the age of 12). The surviving son (?James)
died at 49 years of age, not long after his parents death (?2007).
Philippa died on 20th February 2006 and Donald a day later.
Notes:
1
. I have not found him listed with
the survivors of the Electra which was sunk on that day. Electra had
been involved in rescuing passengers from the Athenia, the first ship to be
sunk in the war, and the three men who survived the sinking of HMS
Hood.
2. LIEUTENANT-COLONEL DAVID HUNTER, who has died
aged 81 (in 2001), was one of the youngest officers to be imprisoned
in Colditz during the Second World War. In 1950 he won an MC during
service in Malaya.
His release from Colditz was followed by a
brief re-training period, after which he was posted to Berlin as OC
Royal Marines. "They must have been crazy," he later recalled. "I
was still in turmoil, and Germany was the last place to send me." He
was soon posted back to Britain.
Shortly afterwards, he was
posted to the aircraft carrier Illustrious where he met a young
naval lieutenant, Donald Douglas, who had been a PoW of the
Japanese. Agreeing, after several drinks, that the Illustrious did
not seem to be a happy ship, they decided to approach its rather
grim Captain, introduce themselves, and tell him they would not
stand any nonsense. They tapped on the cabin door and entered.
"Look, Sir," Hunter began, "we're here to tell you that we've both
been b******d about as PoWs and we're not having any of it in
peacetime!"
Douglas held his breath in horror, but to his
surprise the Captain replied, "All right, I hear you. Dismiss!". At
the end of his tour of duty, the Captain sent for them both and
said, "Lucky for you on the first day we met that I was reading a
book on how to deal with ex-PoWs, or your fate might have been
different."
3. Daily Telegraph 2006: Lt Cdr Donald
Cameron (RN Retd) and Philippa Charlotte (née Norris) of
Billingshurst, West Sussex. Philippa - on 20th February after a
determined and uncompromising battle with cancer, shortly followed
by Donald, after a recent stroke; both at St Richard's Hospital,
Chichester. Together for 63 years through all adversity: death could
not separate them. Beloved parents of Caroline, James and Sarah.
Funeral at St Mary's Church, Billingshurst, on Wednesday 1st March
at 2.30 p.m. No flowers, donations to Cystic Fibrosis Trust, Cancer
Research UK or Macmillan Cancer Relief. Inquiries to Freeman
Brothers 01403 254590.
4. There is a Donald who was a brother of James, Diana and Jean, all children
of
Professor James
Archibald Douglas, himself the grandson of James Douglas
(1811-1868), of Stranraer, Scotland. I am not sure that the
dates are correct for this Donald Cameron Douglas.
Downloads:
Report on the loss of HMS
Statagem (pdf) Includes details of his time as a POW.
Research note:
1. Is there a
connection with
Commander Hugh Donald
Cameron Douglas?
See also:
•
Douglas of Old headington family tree
