View source for Sholto Douglas, 1st Baron Douglas of Kirtleside

{{Short description|British Marshal of the Royal Air Force (1893–1969)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2017}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix = [[Marshal of the Royal Air Force]] [[The Right Honourable]]
| name          = The Lord Douglas of Kirtleside
| image         = Air Marshall W Sholto Douglas, CB, MC, DFC (Art. IWM ART LD 997).jpg
| nickname      = 
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1893|12|23|df=yes}}
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1969|10|29|1893|12|23|df=yes}}
| birth_place   = [[Headington]], England
| death_place   = [[Northampton]], England
| placeofburial = [[St Clement Danes]], [[London]]
| allegiance    = United Kingdom
| branch        = [[British Army]] (1914–18)<br />[[Royal Air Force]] (1918–47)
| serviceyears  = 1914–1947
| rank          = [[Marshal of the Royal Air Force]]
| unit          = 
| commands      = [[British Zone of Occupation]] (1946–47)<br />[[British Air Forces of Occupation]] (1945–46)<br />[[Coastal Command]] (1944–45)<br />[[RAF Middle East Command]] (1943–44)<br />[[RAF Fighter Command|Fighter Command]] (1940–42)<br />[[RAF North Weald]] (1928–29)<br />[[No. 84 Squadron RAF|No. 84 Squadron]] (1917–18)<br />[[No. 43 Squadron RAF|No. 43 Squadron]] (1916–17)
| battles       = [[First World War]]<br />[[Second World War]]
| awards        = [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]]<br />[[Military Cross]]<br />[[Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)|Distinguished Flying Cross]]<br />[[Mentioned in Despatches]] (3)<br />[[Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (France)|Croix de guerre]] (France)<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=32960|date=29 July 1924|page=5723}}</ref><br />[[Order of Polonia Restituta|Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta]] (Poland)<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=35577|date=26 May 1942|page=2334 |supp=y |nolink=y}}</ref><br />[[Order of the White Lion]] (Czechoslovakia)<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=35858|date=8 January 1943|page=270 |supp=y |nolink=y}}</ref><br />[[Order of the White Eagle (Serbia)|Grand Officer's Cross with Swords of the Order of the White Eagle]] (Yugoslavia)<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=36341|date=18 January 1944|page=430 |supp=y |nolink=y}}</ref><br />[[Legion of Merit|Chief Commander of the Legion of Merit]] (United States)<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=37242|date=24 August 1945|page=4342 |supp=y |nolink=y}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=36630|date=25 July 1944|page=3524 |supp=y |nolink=y}}</ref><br />[[Order of St. Olav|Grand Cross of the Order of St Olav]] (Norway)<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=37300|date=5 October 1945|page=4957 |supp=y |nolink=y}}</ref><br />[[Order of the Phoenix (Greece)|Grand Cross of the Order of the Phoenix]] (Greece)<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=37712|date=3 September 1946|page=4455 |supp=y |nolink=y}}</ref><br />[[Order of Orange-Nassau|Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange Nassau]] (Netherlands)<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=37758|date=11 October 1946|page=5079 |supp=y |nolink=y}}</ref><br />[[Order of the Crown (Belgium)|Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown]] (Belgium)<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=37992|date=20 June 1947|page=2799|nolink=y}}</ref>
| relations     = 
| laterwork     = 
}}
[[Marshal of the Royal Air Force]] '''William Sholto Douglas, 1st Baron Douglas of Kirtleside''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|GCB|MC|DFC}} (23 December 1893 – 29 October 1969) was a senior commander in the [[Royal Air Force]]. After serving as a pilot, then a flight commander and finally as a squadron commander during the [[First World War]], he served as a flying instructor during the inter-war years before becoming Director of Staff Duties and then [[Assistant Chief of the Air Staff]] at the [[Air Ministry]].

During the [[Second World War]] Douglas clashed with other senior commanders over strategy in the [[Battle of Britain]]. Douglas argued for a more aggressive engagement with a "[[Big Wing]]" strategy, i.e. using massed fighters to defend the United Kingdom against enemy bombers. He then became [[Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief]] of [[RAF Fighter Command|Fighter Command]] in which role he was responsible for rebuilding the command's strength after the attrition of the [[Battle of Britain]], but also for bringing it on the offensive to wrest the initiative in the air from the German [[Luftwaffe]].

Douglas went on to be Air Officer Commanding in Chief of [[RAF Middle East Command]] in which role he was an advocate of [[Operation Accolade]], a planned British amphibious assault on [[Rhodes]] and the [[Dodecanese Islands]] in the [[Aegean Sea]], and was disappointed when it was abandoned. He became commander of the [[British Zone of Occupation]] in [[Germany]] after the war.

From 1949 to 1964 he served as chairman of [[British European Airways]].

==Early life==
Born the son of [[Robert Langton Douglas]] and his wife Margaret Jane Douglas (née Cannon), Douglas was educated at [[Emanuel School]], [[Tonbridge School]] and [[Lincoln College, Oxford]].{{sfn|Orange|2011}}

==Early military career==
Douglas was commissioned as a [[second lieutenant]] in the [[Royal Field Artillery]] on 15 August 1914.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28876 |date=21 August 1914 |page=6597|nolink=y}}</ref> In January 1915, following a disagreement with his commanding officer, he transferred to the [[Royal Flying Corps]] joining [[No. 2 Squadron RAF|No. 2 Squadron]] as an observer.{{sfn|Douglas| 1963| p= 75}} He soon trained as a pilot and earned [[Royal Aero Club]] certificate No 1301.{{sfn|Douglas| 1963| p= 85}} Promoted to [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]] on 9 June 1915, he became a pilot with  [[No. 14 Squadron RAF|No. 14 Squadron]] at [[Shoreham Airport|Shoreham]] in July 1915 and then transferred to [[No. 8 Squadron RAF|No. 8 Squadron]], flying [[Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2|B.E.2c aircraft]] on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]], in August 1915.<ref name=air>{{cite web |url=http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Douglas.htm |publisher=Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation |title=Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord Douglas of Kirtleside |access-date=3 August 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090104005836/http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Douglas.htm |archive-date=4 January 2009 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Appointed a flight commander with the rank of temporary [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]] in December 1915, he joined [[No. 18 Squadron RAF|No. 18 Squadron]] at [[RAF Montrose|Montrose]] in January 1916.{{sfn|Douglas| 1963| p= 131}} He was awarded the [[Military Cross]] on 14 January 1916.<ref name=mc>{{London Gazette|issue=29438|date=11 January 1916 |page=582|supp=y |nolink=y}}</ref>

Douglas went on to be officer commanding [[No. 43 Squadron RAF|No. 43 Squadron]], flying [[Sopwith 1½ Strutter]]s on the Western Front, in April 1916 and, having been promoted to temporary [[Major (rank)|major]] on 1 July 1916, he became then officer commanding [[No. 84 Squadron RAF|No. 84 Squadron]], flying [[Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5|S.E.5]]s on the Western Front, in August 1917.{{sfn|Douglas| 1963| p= 214}} He was awarded the [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)|Distinguished Flying Cross]] on 8 February 1919.<ref name=dfc>{{London Gazette|city=e|issue=13400|date=11 February 1919 |page=796}}</ref>

After the war Douglas worked briefly for [[Handley Page]] and as a commercial pilot before rejoining the Royal Air Force in 1920 after a chance meeting with [[Hugh Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard|Hugh Trenchard]].{{sfn|Orange|2011}} After being granted a permanent commission as a [[squadron leader]] on 25 March 1920,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=32193 |date=14 January 1921|page=376|nolink=y}}</ref> Douglas attended the [[RAF Staff College, Andover|RAF Staff College]] and then served as a flight instructor for four years.<ref name=air/> Promoted to [[Wing commander (rank)|wing commander]] on 1 January 1925,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33007 |date=30 December 1924 |page=8|supp=y |nolink=y}}</ref> he continued his work as an instructor before attending the [[Royal College of Defence Studies|Imperial Defence College]] in 1927.<ref name=air/> He became station commander at [[RAF North Weald]] in January 1928 and then joined the Air Staff at Headquarters Middle East Command in [[Khartoum]] in August 1929.<ref name=air/> Promoted to [[group captain]] on 1 January 1932,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33785 |date=29 December 1931 |page=16|supp=y |nolink=y}}</ref> he became an instructor at the Imperial Defence College in June 1932 and then, having been promoted to [[air commodore]] on 1 January 1935,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34176 |date=2 July 1935|page=4262|nolink=y}}</ref> he became Director of Staff Duties at the [[Air Ministry]] on 1 January 1936.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34242 |date=14 January 1936|page=311|nolink=y}}</ref> Promoted to [[air vice marshal]] on 1 January 1938,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34468 |date=31 December 1937 |page=8194|nolink=y}}</ref> he went on to be [[Assistant Chief of the Air Staff]] on 17 February 1938.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34488 |date=1 March 1938 |page=1351|nolink=y}}</ref>

==Second World War==
[[File:Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Fighter Command CH4209.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Air Marshal Sir William Sholto Douglas, Commander-in-Chief Fighter Command (left) during a visit to No 61 OTU at [[Heston Aerodrome|Heston]], November 1941.]]

On 22 April 1940, with the [[World War II|Second World War]] well under way, he was made [[Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (United Kingdom)|Deputy Chief of the Air Staff]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34840 |date=30 April 1940 |page=2556|nolink=y}}</ref> He was appointed a [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]] on 11 July 1940.<ref name=cb>{{London Gazette|issue=34893 |date=9 July 1940 |page=4245|supp=y |nolink=y}}</ref> 

During 1940, [[Trafford Leigh-Mallory]] supported by Douglas clashed with the head of [[No. 11 Group RAF|No. 11 Group]], [[Keith Park]], and the head of [[RAF Fighter Command|Fighter Command]], [[Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding|Hugh Dowding]], over strategy in the [[Battle of Britain]]. Leigh-Mallory argued for a '[[Big Wing]]' strategy i.e. using massed fighters to defend the United Kingdom against enemy bombers.{{sfn|Orange|2011}}

When [[Charles Portal]] was made [[Chief of the Air Staff (United Kingdom)|Chief of the Air Staff]] in October 1940 he supported Douglas, moving Park and Dowding and appointing Douglas to replace Dowding as [[Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief]] of Fighter Command, with the temporary rank of [[air marshal]] on 25 November 1940.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=35010|date=10 December 1940|page=6982|nolink=y}}</ref> He was advanced to [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath]] on 1 July 1941<ref name=kcb>{{London Gazette |issue=35204|date=27 June 1941 |page=3736 |supp=y |nolink=y}}</ref> and promoted to the substantive rank of air marshal on 14 April 1942.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=35525|date=14 April 1942|page=1648|nolink=y}}</ref>

At around this time Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] recommended Douglas to command the [[China Burma India Theater]] but [[General (United States)|General]] [[George C. Marshall]], the [[Chief of Staff of the United States Army|U.S. Army Chief of Staff]], refused to accept the appointment due to Douglas's well known dislike of Americans.{{sfn|Pogue|1973| p= 258}}

As commander-in-chief of Fighter Command, Douglas was responsible for rebuilding the command's strength after the attrition of the [[Battle of Britain]], but also for bringing it on the offensive to wrest the initiative in the air from the German ''[[Luftwaffe]]''. He was therefore one of the main orchestrators of the only partially successful [[Circus offensive]] whereby large wings of fighters accompanied by bombers would take advantage of good weather to sweep over Northern France.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://spitfiresite.com/2010/04/1941-royal-air-force-offensive.html/3|title=1941: The Difficult Year|last=Douglas|first=Sir Sholto|publisher=Spitfire site|access-date=3 August 2014|date=2010-04-12 }}</ref>

Douglas was promoted to temporary [[air chief marshal]] on 1 July 1942.<ref name=air/> On 28 November 1942 Douglas was replaced at Fighter Command by [[Trafford Leigh-Mallory]] and was transferred to [[Egypt]], becoming Air Officer Commanding in Chief of [[RAF Middle East Command]] in January 1943.{{sfn|Douglas| 1966|p= 179}} In that capacity Douglas was an advocate of [[Operation Accolade]], a planned British amphibious assault on [[Rhodes]] and the [[Dodecanese Islands]] in the [[Aegean Sea]], and was disappointed when it was abandoned.{{sfn|Orange|2011}}

[[File:The Royal Air Force during the Second World War- Personalities TR893.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Air Chief Marshal Sir William Sholto Douglas, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, RAF Middle East Command (left) with Air Officer Commanding Malta, Air Marshal [[Keith Park|Sir Keith Park]] in the garden at HQ, Malta]]
Douglas returned to England in January 1944 to head [[Coastal Command]] during the [[Operation Overlord|invasion of Normandy]] and then, having been confirmed in the rank of air chief marshal on 6 June 1945,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=37124|date=8 June 1945 |page=3073 |supp=y |nolink=y}}</ref> he became Commander in Chief, [[British Air Forces of Occupation]] in July 1945.{{sfn|Douglas| 1966|p= 290}} He was advanced to [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]] on 1 January 1946.<ref name=gcb>{{London Gazette |issue=37407|date=28 December 1945 |page=5|nolink=y}}</ref>

Promoted to [[Marshal of the Royal Air Force]] on 1 January 1946,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=37414 |date=28 December 1945 |page=187|supp=y |nolink=y}}</ref> Douglas became the second commander of the [[British Occupation zone in Germany|British Zone of Occupation]] in Germany in May 1946.<ref name=air/> He was raised to the peerage as '''Baron Douglas of Kirtleside''', of [[Dornock]] in the [[Dumfriesshire|County of Dumfries]] on 17 February 1948, sitting as a member of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=38210 |date=17 February 1948 |page=1127 |nolink=y}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|chapter=Air Marshal William Sholto Douglas, 1st and last Baron Douglas of Kirtleside | title=Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage|edition=107th |location= Wilmington, Delaware|date= 2003| volume =1| page= 842|publisher=Genealogical Books }}</ref> Douglas retired in 1947 and became chairman of [[British European Airways|BEA]] in 1949, a post he retained until 1964. He published two volumes of autobiography, ''Years of Combat'', covering the First World War, and ''Years of Command'' covering the Second World War.{{sfn|Orange|2011}}

Douglas died in hospital in [[Northampton]] on 29 October 1969 and was buried at [[St Clement Danes]] in [[Strand, London|The Strand]] in [[London]].{{sfn|Orange|2011}} He was an atheist.<ref>"It's easy to scoff at supernatural tales of seances and Ouija boards, but Compton Miller found that some remarkable people who believe them." "''Humble pie from the hereafter'' Lady Douglas of Kirtleside: ''Aged 62, an ex-Molyneax model and widow of the World War II RAF hero.''</ref><ref name="TheTimes1984">{{cite newspaper The Times|quote=Sholto Douglas was an atheist who always maintained that death was as final as "treading on a beetle". Soon after he died in 1969 his distraught widow met Dr [[Mervyn Stockwood]], then [[Anglican Bishop of Southwark|Bishop of Southwark]].|first=Compton |last=Miller|title=Lords and ladies in high spirits|date=October 5, 1984|p=15|issue= 61954|column=A}}</ref>

==Family==
Lord Douglas of Kirtleside was married three times. First he married Beatrice May Hudd on 1 August 1919 at The Registry Office in Croydon, Surrey; they were childless and divorced in 1932. Secondly he married Joan Leslie (née Denny) in 1933; this marriage was also childless and ended in divorce in 1952. Thirdly he married Hazel Walker in 1955; they had one daughter.{{sfn|Orange|2011}}

==Arms==
{{Infobox COA wide
|image = [[File:Arms of William Sholto Douglas, 1st Baron Douglas of Kirtleside.svg|center|150px]]
|escutcheon = Quarterly 1st & 4th Argent a heart Gules imperially crowned Proper on a chief Azure three mullets of the first (Douglas), 2nd & 3rd Azure a bend between six cross crosslets fitchée Or (Mar), all within a bordure engrailed Gules on a canton sinister Sable an eagle displayed Or.
|crest = A heart Gules imperially crowned Proper between two wings displayed Or.
|supporters = Two horses Azure winged crined and hooved Or.
|motto = Forward And Aloft (above), Jamais Arrière (below) <ref>{{cite book|title=Burke's Peerage |date=1959}}</ref>}}

==Publications==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |year=1930 |title=Air combat |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia Britannica]] |edition=14|volume=1|pages=440–444 |author=W.S.D. |language=en}}
* {{cite book|last=Douglas|first=Sholto, Baron Douglas of Kirtleside|title=Years of Combat: the first volume of the autobiography of Sholto Douglas, Marshal of the Royal Air Force, Lord Douglas of Kirtleside. GCB, MC, DFC|publisher=Collins|year=1963}}
* {{cite book|last=Douglas|first=Sholto, Baron Douglas of Kirtleside|title=Years of Command: the second volume of the autobiography of Sholto Douglas, Marshal of the Royal Air Force, Lord Douglas of Kirtleside. GCB, MC, DFC|publisher=Collins|year=1966}}
{{refend}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite ODNB|id=32876|title=Sholto Douglas, 1st Baron Douglas of Kirtleside|last=Orange|first V|date=6 Jan 2011}}
* {{cite book|last=Pogue|first=Forrest|title=George C. Marshall, Vol. 3: Organizer of Victory, 1943–1945|publisher=Viking Press|year=1973|isbn=978-0670336944}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*{{PM20|FID=pe/004203}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Richard Peirse]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (United Kingdom)|Deputy Chief of the Air Staff]]|years=April–November 1940}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Arthur Harris]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding|Sir Hugh Dowding]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[RAF Fighter Command|Commander-in-Chief Fighter Command]]| years=1940–1942}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Trafford Leigh-Mallory|Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Arthur Tedder, 1st Baron Tedder|Sir Arthur Tedder]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[RAF Middle East Command|Commander-in-Chief Middle East Command]]|years=1943–1944}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Keith Park|Sir Keith Park]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[John Slessor|Sir John Slessor]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[RAF Coastal Command|Commander-in-Chief Coastal Command]]| years=1944–1945}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Leonard Slatter|Sir Leonard Slatter]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Arthur Coningham (RAF officer)|Sir Arthur Coningham]]<br /><small>(As [[RAF Second Tactical Air Force|C-in-C Second Tactical Air Force]])</small>}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[British Air Forces of Occupation|Commander-in-Chief]]| years=1945–1946}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Philip Wigglesworth|Sir Philip Wigglesworth]]}}
|-
{{s-reg|uk}}
{{s-new | creation}}
{{s-ttl
 | title  = [[File:Arms of William Sholto Douglas, 1st Baron Douglas of Kirtleside.svg|40px]]<br>Baron Douglas of Kirtleside
 | years  = 1948–1969
}}
{{s-non | reason = Extinct }}
{{s-end}}

{{WW2AirDefenceUK}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, William Sholto}}
[[Category:1893 births]]
[[Category:1969 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies]]
[[Category:British atheists]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Chief Commanders of the Legion of Merit]]
[[Category:Commanders with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta]]
[[Category:Commercial aviators]]
[[Category:English people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:Deputy lieutenants of the County of London]]
[[Category:Foreign recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (United States)]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell]]
[[Category:Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of the Phoenix (Greece)]]
[[Category:Grand Officers of the Order of the Crown (Belgium)]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Labour Party (UK) hereditary peers]]
[[Category:Marshals of the Royal Air Force]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Oxford]]
[[Category:Academics of the Royal College of Defence Studies]]
[[Category:British recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Military Cross]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the White Lion]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force air marshals of World War II]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Royal Artillery officers]]
[[Category:Royal Flying Corps officers]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal]]