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)

Hugh Norman Douglas was born on the 12th of August 1889 in Thebarton, South Australia. Around 1900, Douglas and his family moved to Broken Hill. Sometime around 1913 Douglas and some of his family moved back to Adelaide. Before the war, he was employed in the labourer department in the Broken Hill BHP mine from 1911 to 1912, then he worked in the mine as an underground trucker from 9th June 1914 to 22nd August 1914. When enlisting for the war, his occupation was listed as Wardsman. Five of the Douglas brothers successfully enlisted for the war, one of whom died in Belgium in 1917. Douglas’s eldest brother did not enlist as he was married and had 8 children, and one of his other brothers was not accepted as he had impaired sight.  Two of Douglas’s nephews also enlisted in the war and were a part of the 10th Battalion who fought in Gallipoli. He was not married before the war. His next of kin was his mother, Eliza Hannah Douglas, who was living at 75 Magill Road although her address later changed to Annesley Avenue, North Norwood, South Australia.

Douglas enlisted on the 8th of April, 1915 at Keswick Barracks, Adelaide, South Australia and was assigned to the Base Infantry as Private #4721. Upon enlistment he was described as 5 feet and 6 and a half inches, 154 lbs, “dark” complexion, brown eyes, and dark hair. He was 25 years, 8 months old and was affiliated with the Church of Christ. He was transferred to the Base Army Medical Corp on the 9th of May, 1915. Douglas embarked on the 14th of June 1915 from Melbourne with the 3rd Australian General Hospital Reinforcements in the 4th Field Ambulance on “Wandilla”. He joined the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force on the 16th of August 1915 at Gallipoli. He was hospitalised on the 26th of September 1915 in the 3rd Australian General Hospotal in Mudros with Influenza and was discharged from the hospital on the 27th of January 1916. A few months later he was absent without leave on the 11th of May for which he was admonished and struck off strength. Douglas disembarked on the 27th of January in 1916 in Alexandria from Mudros. He was hospitalised at the 4th Australian Auxiliary Hospital with “mild Meningitis contact” on the 7th of February 1916. Douglas embarked from Suez on “Borda” to nursing duties in Australia on the 17th of August 1916. He was discharged on the 2nd of November 1916 to duty and allotted to Mitcham Camp. However, this was not the end of his service overseas. He embarked from Australia only five days later on the 7th of November 1916 on the “Afric” and arrived in Plymouth, England on the 8th of January 1917. During this journey, on the 1st of December 1916 Douglas was temporarily promoted to Corporal. He reverted to the rank of Private on the 11th of January 1916 at Australian Army Medical Corps (AAMC) Training Depot in Parkhouse. He marched in on the 16th of June 1917 to France and after that marched out on the 27th of June 1917 in the 4th Field Ambulance. On the 11th of August 1918 Douglas was wounded in action with a shell wound to his thigh and both hips. He transferred to Weymouth on the 22nd of December 1918 from France and embarked on the 5th of March 1919 from Portland, England on the “Nevasa”. He disembarked on the 18th of April 1919 in Australia and later travelled to Keswick, South Australia on the 26th of April 1919. He was discharged on the 12th of July 1919 as Medically Unfit.

After the war, Douglas married Constance Caldicott in the Church of Christ Chapel. They were both single and aged 30 years. Douglas was awarded the 1914/15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. The 1914/15 Star was a medal awarded to soldiers who served between August 5th 1914 and December 31st 1915. The Victory medal was awarded to soldiers who served between 5th August 1914 and 11th November 1918. The British War Medal was awarded to all soldiers who fought in WWI. Hugh and Constance raised two of Hugh’s nephews, Colin Norman Douglas and Albert Stuart Douglas. They ran the post office and general store in Coromandel Valley for several years and in later years Douglas was confined to a wheelchair. On the 7th of December 1950, in Coromandel Valley, South Australia, Douglas passed away from natural causes at the age of 61. He was buried on the 9th of December 1950 in West Terrace Cemetery in Kendrew Oval, row 5, grave 38.