Letters and Memorials
of
Captain WILLIAM A. DOUGLAS
6th Battalion The Royal Scots
With Preface
BY THE
Rev. JAMES BLACK
Broughton Place U.F. Church, Edinburgh
EDINBURGH
Printed and Published by ANDREW BROWN
74 Hanover Street
1920
Letters from Captain Douglas whilst on active
service in Egypt during the Senussi Rebellion and Turkish attacks on Suez until
he was killed in action in France. An interesting and illuninating description
of World War 1 service in the Royal Scots.
PREFACE.
WILLIAM ANDERSON DOUGLAS will remain
with many of us " a green memory." I can
picture him now as if I had seen him yesterday
a fact which in itself is a tribute to his
personality. I recall his strong, well-built figure,
his handsome face with its fine jaw, and the
level, direct, fearless glance of his eye. He
always gave one the impression of strength and
cleanness, physical and moral. One guessed, by
the very look of him, that he walked in straight
ways. That poise of the head slightly thrown
back, and giving a steady look to the whole
face was thoroughly characteristic. His speech
added tone to the picture, for it had a slight
note of deliberateness, as though he were saying
precisely what he was thinking. Altogether, I
remember few men who gave me such an impression of honesty and candour. Lest I should
give the impression that he was "over-serious,"
I should like to say that his laugh is what I
remember best ; yet even it was in keeping with
the rest of him, frank, hearty, and clear. To
me, he was one of the particular men whose loss
makes me feel the price we have paid for
victory.
He was " a bird from a fine nest," and I fancy
he would have been the first to admit what he
owed to his parents. In these days when we
speak so much about the heredity of evil, it is
worth paying tribute to the heredity of good.
Still, origins alone do not explain a man like
WILLIE DOUGLAS, for his personality was the
reflection of his own robust character and his
fine soul. I thank God for the memory of him,
for the friendship I enjoyed, and for the work
he was beginning to do in our Congregation.
Those who miss him most will have great
comfort in the memory of what he was. First
and last, he was a man.
JAMES BLACK.
CONTENTS.
LETTERS FROM INCHKEITH, SELKIRK, AND
PEEBLES
ON ACTIVE SERVICE H.M. TROOPSHIP "CERAMIC"
LETTERS FROM EGYPT
LETTERS FROM WESTERN FRONT (EGYPT)
LETTERS FROM H.M. TRANSPORT "SAXONIA''
LETTERS FROM WESTERN FRONT (FRANCE)
IN MEMORIAM
TRIBUTES
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Captain William A. Douglas ....
The late Bailie R. A. Douglas ....
William A. Douglas .....
Rev. James Black and W. A. D. On the way
to Sakkara Sphinx and Pyramid of Cheops
Band of Egyptian Cavalry in the Procession
Vera Goood ! Vera Cheap ! Part of the
Procession . . .
Near the Tombs of the Khalifs A Native 28th of May Going to Cairo ....
Spot where Moses was found in the Bulrushes
A Group at a Native Village near Cairo
Another view of the same Village
The " Barber and Doctor of Health " at the
Village Native girl carrying her usual load
Two Native Ladies at Mosque el Mahmudiya
W. A. D., "The Great White Chief ! On the
Nile Our first Camp after we landed at Mersa
Matruh
This gentleman insisted on having his photo
taken Mosque of Sultan Barkuk, in the
Tombs of the Khalifs Capt. W. A. Douglas
" B " Company or " The Idle Rich "A Street
in Heliopolis Mena Village, The Nile, and
Shadow of the Great Pyramid . .
Egyptian woman carrying earthenware waterpot
The Camels that took us to Sakkara My
little grey home in the East ! . .
Captain W. A. Douglas and Ibrahim on Rhodes
Island On board the "Felucca" Captain
W. A. Douglas
