Hunter, Douglas William (1879 - 1918)

Captain, Royal Army Medical Corps

Buried at Arras Memorial

Commemorated at City of Glasgow Roll of Honour at Glasgow City Chambers

Douglas William Hunter was born in Glasgow, Lanarkshire on 22nd October 1879, son of Douglas, a commercial traveller, and Mary Cameron Hunter of 7 Osborne Terrace, Copland Road, Glasgow. He went to Hutcheson's Grammar School in Glasgow before entering the University of Glasgow in 1896 to study Medicine. Douglas graduated MB ChB on the 23rd July 1901.

In 1911, Douglas was working as a Junior Assistant Medical Officer at the Royal Albert Institute in Lancaster, Lancashire, England.

The outbreak of World War One saw him volunteer in September 1914. Captain Douglas William Hunter was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his actions in the Battle of the Somme at Fricourt in northern France at the beginning of July 1916. The citation from the London Gazette read:

"For exceptional gallantry and devotion to duty. This officer laboured incessantly tending and clearing the wounded in the open and in the front line trenches under very heavy fire. At a critical time when casualties had been heavy he steadied and reorganised the stretcher bearers by his magnificent example and skilful control. After the battalion had withdrawn he continued searching the battlefield for wounded. He showed absolute disregard of danger."

Captain Hunter was also Mentioned in Despatches (MID) on several occasions. He was killed on 25th March 1918, aged 39, in France. At the time of his death he was attached to the 10th Bn. West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own).

The following extract comes from an article written by David Stowe, "Re-reading Max Plowman and A Subaltern on the Somme: The men and officers of 10/West Yorkshire Regiment, 1916-1917." In Stand To! The Journal of the Western Front Association, No.94 (April-May 2012), pp.35-39. It read:

Battalion Medical Officer and Padre
"The Battalion Medical Officer was Captain Douglas William Hunter RAMC. Hunter had studied Medicine at Glasgow University. He had graduated in 1901, and after gaining further qualifications at Glasgow, was in practice in Bradford at the outbreak of war. Battalion war diaries record two other medical officers serving in the same period as Plowman. On 18 December 1916, Captain W. A. Bowman reported for duty at Ville in place of Lieutenant P.A. Bennet-Clarke, who was proceeding on leave. Douglas William Hunter was killed in March 1918 while attached to 10/West Yorkshire Regiment. He had won the Distinguished Service Order for his actions at Fricourt between 1 and 3 July."

"The Battalion Padre was Captain William Cramb Charteris. Reverend Charteris was serving in the Army Chaplains Department as a Baptist chaplain representing the United Board (United Navy and Army Board). His pre-war ministry was in Ayr. Charteris returned to Scotland after the war and continued his ministry in Ayr and later Stirling. Other chaplains attached to 50/Brigade - of which 10/West Yorkshire Regiment formed a part - were Father Potter of 7/Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards), and the Rev. Mitchell of 7/East Yorkshire Regiment. Potter was a Roman Catholic, and Mitchell had helped to bury a number of 7/East Yorks and Green Howards after the ill-fated assault on Fricourt. It is not known if the two chaplains were serving at the same time as Plowman: though denominational and divine services were held almost weekly."

Reproduced with permission from the University of Glasgow Roll of Honour: http://www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk/ww1-intro/