1914-1918

He was wounded during an attack on Ovillers village on 7th July when the battalion was hit by machine gun fire and shrapnel, suffering 461 casualties. Hit in the chest about 9.00 AM, he lay on the battlefield until after dark until he was able to return. One of his brothers, Oswald, was also killed in the war (See below)

Died in attack on German positions at Richebourg L'Avoue. The troops were caught by heavy machine gun fire and shelling and were unable to reach the German lines with 103 killed, 338 wounded and 121 missing.

His battalion was one of those that took part in an unsuccessful diversionary attack opposite Gommecourt, some miles north of the main assault. 517 men from his battalion became casualties.

He is also commemorated on the War Memorials at Copthorne and Copthorne School. His brother William was killed four months later on 31st October (See below).

He is also commemorated on the War Memorials at Copthorne and Copthorne School. His brother Richard had been killed four months earlier on 1st July (See above).

Although affected by gas, the battalion advanced to the German barbed wire defences that were uncut and almost all the officers and NCOs became casualties. Later attacks eventually succeeded in capturing the German front line, but on 4th October a draft of 6 officers and 392 men arrived as replacements for the casualties.

In the 1901 census he was aged 4, son of Shotto and Loretta Douglas, born Vancoucer, British Columbia, resident 94 Prince Wales Road, All sints, Batersea. His connection with Crawley Down may be through his grandmother, Sybil, the Dowager Marchioness of Queensberry. Between 1915 and 1920 she was living at The Folly near Lewes, but then she went bankrupt having bailed out her son, Lord Alfred Douglas (Bosie, the friend of Oscar Wilde). In 1922 she converted to Catholicism and in 1935 was buried at the Franciscan Monastery in Crawley. Lord Alfred living in Lancing and Hove and when he died in 1945, he was buried with his mother in Crawley. They have a single gravestone.

Extract from Liverpool Echo 20 April 1915, page 4:

'B' & 'C' Companies of the battalion attacked and captured the German front line trench known as 'Stuff Trench'. The other two companies later reinforced them. Two officers and eleven other ranks were killed, with two more officers wounded. However 178 other ranks were wounded and 77 missing. He is also commemorated on the memorial at Worth.

The battalion was in reserve on the 1st July, the first day of the Battle of the Somme. On the 6th it moved to trenches in front of Ovillers and launched an attack there at 8.30 the following morning. Despite heavy machine gun and shrapnel fire the battalion captured the first objective. Parties reached the second and third objectives, but their were too few to hold the latter against the German counter attacks Rain then started that continued through the night turning the ground to porridge. The battalion was relieved the following evening having lost 20 officers and 508 other ranks. His brother Gilbert also died (See below)

The battalion was in trenches near Delville Wood at Longueval on the Somme. After a heavy bombardment The Germans broke through the positions on the left of the battalion and attacked the Royal Sussex with grenades who fought off the attack.

OTHER GREAT WAR CASUALTIES NOT LISTED ON THE MEMORIAL

On the 4th the battalion was in reserve for a divisional attack on Beaurevoir and received orders for an attack on Beaurevoir Farm the next day. This took place at 6.00 am over open country against dug in machine guns. The objective was taken but the battalion remained under fire from high ground to the west that caused a small withdrawal. The battalion then held its positions until relieved late on the 7th. Casualties were 2 officers killed and 7 wounded as well as 14 men killed, 184 wounded, 20 missing and 4 died of wounds. This is a total of 231 from the 515 that launched the attack.

This was the first day of the Battle of Poelcapelle and the battalion was initially in support. At about 8.15 am the battalion took the lead and met fierce rifle fire from Houthulst Forest and Les Cinq Chemins in taking their next objective. A later German attack was dispersed by machine gun fire and two further ones by artillery bombardments. Brother of Alfred Waite.

1939-1945

IX Squadron had been based at Honington since February 1939. It flew the Vickers Wellington 1 heavy bomber. On 30th October two Wellingtons were involved in a mid air collision at Honington, probably during an air test. All 5 crewmembers on board the aircraft were killed and were buried at All Saints Church.

The 51st Highland Division held St Valery against the German attack, but could not be evacuated from there. All survivors became prisoners of war. His father, brother of the Second Viscount Colville of Culross, was Flag Officer, Orkney and Shetlands 1914-1916 and Commander in Chief, Portsmouth, 1916-1919.

The squadron was based at Methwold in Norfolk and flew Avro Lancaster heavy bombers. The crew, in PB768, took part in a rain on Vohwinkel in Germany and the aircraft was damaged over the target. On the return flight, probably struggling for height, the aircraft was identified as an enemy one as the Germans had launched an attack on the Allied airfields in Belgium that morning and it was shot down by a US anti aircraft battery near Namur.

The squadron was formed in November 1943 and disbanded in July 1945 and was based at East Kirkby, Lincolnshire. On 21st June the squadron was detailed to take part in a raid on a synthetic oil plant at Wesseling. 133 Lancasters and 6 target marking Mosquitoes took off for the target. Although the weather forecast was for clear conditions, the target was found to be completely covered by low cloud and the aircraft bombed using radar. The cloud also silhouetted the aircraft for the German night fighters and losses were severe, 37 Lancasters, over 27% of the force, were lost. John's aircraft, Lancaster 1, ME 782, code letters LE-N, was flown by Pilot Officer Thomas Hart. It was shot down by a nightfighter and crashed into the countryside about 3 miles north east of Antwerp. The crew were all killed and are in Schoonselhof Cemetery. Four other aircraft from the squadron were also lost.