Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

"SIX BROTHERS VOLUNTEER FOR SERVICE. FIVE OF THEM ACCEPTED. PARENTS PROUD RECORD. 

Not long since the, story was told in these columns of a lady whose five sons had volunteered for active service. It was a great record, and South Australia was as proud of the mother as the mother was proud of her sons. But these are great times and now a new record has been made. Mr. and Mrs. R.G. Douglas, of Shipster road, Kensington, have seven sons, and six of tlem have volunteered for service at the front. Unfortunately one of the six has a defect in the sight of his right eye, which incapacitates him for military service, and although he offered himself and was fit in every other respect, the impaired sight was a bar, and he was passed out. The seventh son is 43 year of age, and has wife and eight children, so he did not feel called upon to offer himself nor was it up to him to do so. This is a a fine record for any parents to rejoice over, but Mr. and Mrs. Douglas can claim even more, for they have two grandsons (Privates D. G. T. Woods and C. J. T. Woods), children of their eldest daughter, in the trench at Gallipoli. They are in the famous Third Brigade, of the 10th Battalion, of the First Australian Expeditionary Force, which won imperishable glory at the landing at Gaba Tepe. Both got through that terrible experience without anything worse than scratch and are still manning their trenches. Both Mr. and Mrs. Douglas are native born South Australians and all their children have been bom in this State. Mr. Douglas, who is 75 years of age, is the son of a well known tent maker who was in business in Pirie street for many years. Mrs. Douglas is the eldest daughter of Mr. Edward Bromley, a butcher in Adelaide, one of the earliest colonists of the State. Mr. and Mrs. Douglas have passed the greater portion of their lives in South Australia, though they have at different periods been residents of Broken Hill. The sons who have volunteered are follows; 

Albert E. Douglas, aged 37; rejected, account defective eyesight.
Archie W. Douglas, aged. 35; private, third reinforcements.
Harry R. Douglas, aged 30; lance-corporal, third renforcements.
Hugh N. Douglas, aged 26; private, Army Medical Service Corps.
Wallace Gordon Douglas, aged 23; private, seventh reinforcements.
Tom E. Douglas, aged 20; trooper, Light Horse

The grandsons who have volunteered are;

Private D. G. T. Woods, Third Division, First Expeditionary Force.
Private E. J. T. Woods, Third Division, First Expeditionary Force.

Lance-Corporal H. R. Douglas was slightly wounded at Gallipoli by shrapnel but has recovered and is again in the trenches." - from the Adelaide Daily News 17 Aug 1915 (nla.gov.au)

Wallace Gordon Douglas was a South Australian soldier who enlisted to serve Australia during the first world war. He served in the 1st Pioneer Battalion as an electrical engineer/mechanic.  

Douglas was born at Thebarton, South Australia, in 1892. Wallace Gordon Douglas was the youngest of eight brothers and also had three sisters. His brothers included Archie W Douglas, Harry R. Douglas, Hugh N. Douglas, and Tom E Douglas who also served in WW1. Wallace grew up in South Australia, where he resided in Kensington House on Shipsters road, Kensington. He worked as a motor driver/electrician.

Douglas enlisted on June 14, 1915, at the age of 23 years and 4 months. He was obliged to fill out several paperwork, including medical forms and the Attestation paper of individuals recruited for duty abord. Wallace passed the examinations being 5 feet 7 inches tall at the age of 23. He weighed 63 kg and had a chest measurement of 33.2 to 36 inches. He had brown eyes and black hair. On his face he had a big scar that went from the left side of the eye all the way to the right side of the head. Douglas volunteered alongside all of his brothers, and all but one were accepted. Douglas was selected as the tenth reinforcement of the 12th Battalion, ranked as a private.

After enlistment on 18th of January 1916 this is when he started learning all the skills required in training. After spending several months doing this Douglas boarded the HMAT A70 Ballarat from Adelaide, South Australia on the 14th of September. Douglas was taken on strength on March 18, 1916, to join the First Pioneer Battalion, which was basically light military combat engineers built like infantry and stationed on the front lines of war.  They were used to develop and increase the protection and mobility of support troops.  They created barbed wire fortifications, established defensive positions, command posts, and dugouts, and occasionally breached opposing barriers with weapons like the Bangalore Torpedo. Douglas was sent to a specialised training camp. he left training in Alexandria to travel to France, arriving on the 2nd of April 1916.  He was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal on the 3rd of March, 1917. Douglas was promoted to temporary Corporal on July 1, 1917, Douglas received a more permanent promotion about a month later, on August 9, 1917. Douglas was obliged to separate himself from the 1st Pioneer Battalion for duty with Lewis Gun School on 3rd of September 1917. Douglas was deployed to battle in France less than a month later, on the 28th of September. A week later he was wounded in the Battle of Messines on October 4, 1917, he died the same day.

His death was published a week later in “The Miner.” His cemetery Birr Crossroads is located in Flanders, Belgium, and his Panel number on the Roll of Honour in the Australian War Memorial, Canberra is 171.