Henry Edward Manning Douglas

Tended wounded men in the open despite intense enemy gunfire

Henry Edward Manning Douglas was born at Gillingham, Kent, on 11 July 1875, the son of George Alexander and Elizabeth Douglas. His father worked in the prison service and later became a prison governor in Jamaica. Henry was educated at St George's College there before entering Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, in 1893. He graduated in medicine in 1897 and obtained the Scottish triple medical qualification the following year. On 28 July 1899 he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Royal Army Medical Corps and soon went to South Africa.

His Victoria Cross action occurred only months into his Army career. At Magersfontein on 11 December 1899, British troops attacking Boer positions suffered heavy casualties. Douglas repeatedly went into the open under severe fire to treat the wounded. Those he attended included Captain Gordon of the Gordon Highlanders and Major Robinson. He was himself wounded during the battle, but his willingness to reach men exposed to enemy fire brought recognition for exceptional gallantry and devotion. His Victoria Cross was announced on 29 March 1901. His South African service also earned the Distinguished Service Order and mentions in despatches.

Douglas remained a military doctor after the war. He served at St George's Barracks in London and joined General Egerton's Somaliland expedition in 1903–04, including the battle of Jidballi. He subsequently served in India. During the Balkan conflicts of 1912–13 he worked with Red Cross medical units. His service brought Serbia's Order of St Sava, Commander (Third Class), the Serbian Red Cross decoration and the Samaritan Cross, also known as the Cross of Mercy. He also received the British Red Cross Society Medal for the Balkan Wars, with the Servia clasp.

In 1914 Douglas led the medical officers at the Duchess of Westminster's Hospital at Le Touquet, France, which opened that October in a converted casino. He subsequently served as assistant director of medical services with the 29th Division on the Western Front. His responsibilities expanded from treating individual casualties to organising medical support for a fighting formation. He became a lieutenant-colonel in 1915 and a brevet colonel in 1918. His wartime honours included appointment as a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George and the French Croix de Guerre. He also directed medical services with British forces in northern Russia and subsequently served in Mesopotamia and Persia.

His later appointments included honorary surgeon to the Viceroy of India, commandant of the Royal Army Medical College and deputy director of medical services for Southern Command at Poona. Promoted to major-general in 1929, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1932 and retired in 1933. Douglas died at Droitwich, Worcestershire, on 14 February 1939, aged sixty-three, and was buried in Epsom Cemetery beside his brother.

Victoria Cross citation The London Gazette, 29 March 1901, page 2193:

"On the 11th December, 1899, during the action at Magersfontein, Lieutenant Douglas showed great gallantry and devotion under a very severe fire in advancing in the open and attending to Captain Gordon, Gordon Highlanders, who was wounded, and also attending to Major Robinson and other wounded men under a fearful fire. Many similar acts of devotion and gallantry were performed by Lieutenant Douglas on the same day."