Douglas Graham (British Army officer)
Major General Douglas Alexander Henry Graham, CB, CBE, DSO & Bar, MC, DL (26 March 1893 – 28 September 1971) was a senior British Army officer who fought with distinction in both world wars.[4] After attending the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, he was granted a commission in the Regular Army, again with the rank of second lieutenant, on 17 September 1913, into the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), and was posted to the 1st Battalion of his regiment.[15] He returned to the United Kingdom and attended the Staff College, Camberley from 1924 to 1925 where, among his many fellow students there were Noel Irwin, Daril Watson, Ivor Thomas, Clifford Malden, Cyril Durnford, Michael Creagh, Thomas Riddell-Webster, James Harter, Sydney Rigby Wason, Langley Browning, Frederick Hyland, Otto Lund, Rufus Laurie, Gerald Fitzgerald, Arthur Barstow, John Reeve, Vyvyan Pope, Robert Studdert, Noel Napier-Clavering, Reade Godwin-Austen, Gerald Brunskill, Archibald Nye, George Lammie, Noel Beresford-Peirse, Gerald Gartlan, Geoffrey Raikes, Humfrey Gale, Guy Robinson and Lionel Finch, along with John Northcott of the Australian Army and Ernest Sansom and Maurice Pope of the Canadian Army.[21][6] Shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, Graham led his battalion overseas to France, arriving there in mid-September as part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF).[22] On 11 June 1942, shortly before the division left for North Africa, Graham was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in that year's King's Birthday Honours.[24] Departing the United Kingdom three days later, on 13 August Graham's brigade arrived in Egypt, where the British Eighth Army, which the 51st Division was to form part of once fully trained and used to desert conditions, had just suffered a major reverse.Graham's brigade, given an assault role, quickly took their objectives – of advancing through the Axis minefields to create a passage and enable the armour of Lieutenant General Herbert Lumsden's X Corps to pass through.Three weeks before the invasion the X Corps commander, Brian Horrocks, was severely injured by a lone German aircraft and was replaced soon after by Lieutenant General Sir Richard McCreery.[33] Graham, after consultation with Clark, the army commander, was allowed to retire to good defensive positions, thereby being able to repel the Germans with concentrated artillery fire.After this the division (which by now had sustained some 3,000 casualties at Salerno) advanced on the Fifth Army's left flank, eventually reaching the Volturno River, where the Germans had built up a defensive line.However, before the division could cross the river, Graham was injured, via a broken shoulder, on 10 October when his jeep tumbled into a shell crater after visiting his units in the front line.[33] After being evacuated to hospital in the United Kingdom, by January 1944 Graham, after being mentioned in despatches for his service in North Africa and Italy,[38] was judged to be sufficiently recovered from his injuries to be given command of the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division, a highly experienced first-line TA formation which had served with distinction in North Africa and Sicily,[39] in place of Major General Sidney Kirkman, who was being given command of XIII Corps on the Italian front.Comprising the 69th, 151st and 231st Infantry Brigades along with divisional troops, the 50th Division, with its considerable fighting experience, was brought back from Sicily in November 1943 to spearhead the Allied invasion of Normandy, codenamed Operation Overlord.[25] The division also gained, on D-Day, the first and only VC to be awarded to be British or Commonwealth servicemen on the day, belonging to Company Sergeant Major Stanley Hollis of the 6th Battalion, Green Howards.[43] After heavy fighting at Amaye-sur-Suelles, the division then captured Villers-Bocage, earning praise from the new XXX Corps commander, Lieutenant General Horrocks (who described Graham in his autobiography as "an old war horse never far from the scene of battle"),[1] and eventually found itself lined up along the northern flank of the Falaise Pocket, where the Germans were now retreating to, and where the Battle of Normandy was, after 2+1⁄2 months of severe fighting, was finally won and thousands of Germans were captured.[43] Again playing only a minor role in Operation Market Garden − Montgomery's attempt to cross the Rhine and end the war before Christmas − the division instead spent the next few weeks garrisoning "The Island", the area between the River Waal and the Lower Rhine, after the operation failed, in turn relieving the 43rd Division, commanded by Major General Ivor Thomas, who had been one of Graham's fellow students at the Staff College in the mid-1920s.
Doug GrahamBrechinGlasgow NecropolisBritish ArmyMajor GeneralService numberRoyal Field ArtilleryCameronians (Scottish Rifles)50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division56th (London) Infantry Division153rd Infantry Brigade27th Infantry BrigadeFirst World WarArab revolt in PalestineSecond World WarCompanion of the Order of the BathCommander of the Order of the British EmpireDistinguished Service OrderMilitary CrossMentioned in DespatchesCommander of the Legion of MeritOfficer of the Legion of HonourCroix de guerreCommander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olavworld wars153rd Brigade51st (Highland) DivisionNorth AfricaGeneral Officer CommandingSalerno landingsNormandy landingsAngus, ScotlandThe Glasgow AcademyUniversity of Glasgowcommissionedsecond lieutenantTerritorial ForceRoyal Military College, SandhurstRegular Armyplatoon commanderLieutenant ColonelPhilip Robertson19th BrigadeWestern FrontBritish Expeditionary Forceretreat from MonsFirst Battle of YpresRiflemanHenry MayVictoria CrossFrancelieutenantcaptainbrigade major182nd Brigade61st (2nd South Midland) Division1918 New Year Honours11 November 1918Indian ArmyNorthern Command, IndiaStaff College, CamberleyNoel IrwinDaril WatsonIvor ThomasClifford MaldenMichael CreaghThomas Riddell-WebsterJames HarterSydney Rigby WasonOtto LundArthur BarstowJohn ReeveVyvyan PopeReade Godwin-AustenGerald BrunskillArchibald NyeGeorge LammieNoel Beresford-PeirseGerald GartlanGeoffrey RaikesHumfrey GaleLionel FinchJohn NorthcottAustralian ArmyErnest SansomMaurice PopeCanadian Armygeneral officersstaff officer52nd (Lowland) Infantry DivisionTerritorial ArmyDeputy Assistant AdjutantQuarter-Master GeneralOfficer Commandingregimental depotHamilton, South LanarkshirePalestineArab RevoltBrigadierHenry Willcox13th Infantry BrigadeHarold Franklyn5th Infantry DivisionCatterickYorkshirePhoney Wartrench warfareMiles Dempseyexercises9th (Highland) Infantry Divisionacting rankcolonel51st (Highland) Infantry DivisionBattle of FranceAlan CunninghamNeil RitchieDouglas WimberleyCameron HighlanderLowlandKing's Birthday HonoursBritish Eighth ArmytheatreBattle of Alam el Halfadesert warfareEl AlameinLieutenant General