Name
Douglas Edgar Adamson
Conflict
Second World War
Date of Death / Age
06/04/1943
34
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Captain
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
7/10th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
SFAX WAR CEMETERY
II. A. 7.
Tunisia
Headstone Inscription
HOW SLEEP THE BRAVE WHO SINK TO REST BY ALL THEIR COUNTRY'S WISHES BLEST
UK & Other Memorials
Hitchin Town Memorial, Hitchin Boys’ Grammar School Memorial (WW2), Hitchin Roll of Honour 1939 – 1945 (Book) St Mary’s Church, Hitchin
Biography
He attended the Hitchin Grammar School from 1921-1925 and became a representative sportsman in the school elevens during the 1924-1925 season. On leaving school he joined his father's cloth merchant's business, but maintained his sporting associations, especially rugby, in Welwyn.
He served with the London Scottish from 1940 and obtained a commission with the 7/10th Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders in December 1942. His Service Number was 219912. He was killed in action in North Africa.
This was at the time that the British Desert Army was advancing from the Mareth Line in Southern Tunisia towards Tunis and, on the 5th/6th April 1943, had launched a violent attack on the German and Italian positions.
He was buried in Plot 2, Row A, Grave 7 in Sfax War Cemetery in Tunisia. A private inscription on the stone reads "How sleep the brave who sink to rest by all their country's wishes blest”.
A memorial stone can be found in Hitchin Cemetery in grave N.W. XLVIIA reading "Capt. Douglas Adamson 1909-1943 killed in action in North Africa ... “
His parents were William and Emmie Adamson who lived at ‘Elmside’, Chiltern Rd, Hitchin and he was their third son. His wife, Pamela, lived in High Wycombe and they had twin daughters whom he never saw. He had been born in London and was residing in Hertfordshire at the time he enlisted.
Acknowledgments
David C Baines – ‘Hitchin’s Century of Sacrifice’, Hitchin Grammar School Chronicle, Herts & Beds Express dated 1st May 1943
