War Memorials Elsewhere, - Oxford University, Merton College

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The War Memorial for Merton College, Oxford (1)
Select the above image for a larger version which opens in a new window.
Photo by kind permission of Simon Cope, Web & Media Officer for Merton College (<simon.cope@merton.ox.ac.uk>)

The War Memorial for Merton College, Oxford, is situated under the Fitzjames Arch. The memorial consists of the names of those commemorated carved into the stone wall under the arch.
107 names are commemorated for those who lost their lives in the First World War, including the one-time addition of two German names (though these would appear to have been subsequently removed).
Below these names are those of 43 past students who lost their lives in the Second World War.

1 name is that of an Officer who served with the Yorkshire Regiment.
One other name on the memorial is shown as being in the Yorkshire Regiment, - H Huggard. However, he was in the East Yorkshire Regiment, NOT the Yorkshire Regiment)

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Major John Charles Edward Douglas.
10th Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment. Son of Admiral Sir Archibald Douglas, G.C.B., G.C.V.O., LL.D.; J.P., and of Lady Douglas. Barrister, Gray's Inn. Killed 18 December 1915. Aged 39.
Buried BAILLEUL COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION (NORD).
(The following additional information on Captain Douglas is taken from Bob Coulson's "Biographies of Officers of the Yorkshire Regiment";-
John Douglas arrived at Boulogne on September 10th 1915 as a Captain with “C” company of the 10th battalion.
They were almost immediately in action at the Battle of Loos which began on September 25th. During this action Captain Douglas and about seventy main became detached from the main body of the battalion and it was not until Monday the
27th that they received the order to fall back. They made it but “fighting was more than once hand to hand.”
After Loos they had two weeks rest and reorganisation at Strazeele and then towards the end of October were back in the line around Armentieres.
Major Douglas died on December 18th 1915 at the age of 39. He was shot through the neck while out inspecting the wire just before dawn, dying later in the day in the Casualty Clearing Station.
A fellow officer wrote, “His loss was deeply regretted by all. His courage, common sense and keenness all being greatly missed especially by his own company”.
Major John Charles Edward Douglas is buried in Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension on the eastern outskirts of the town.
His father was Admiral Sir Archibald Douglas and his mother Lady Douglas was a barrister of Grays Inn.)

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The War Memorial for Merton College, Oxford (2)
Select the above image for a larger version which opens in a new window.
Photo by kind permission of Simon Cope, Web & Media Officer for Merton College (<simon.cope@merton.ox.ac.uk>)

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