b. 18/09/1918 Galashiels, Scotland. d. 18/12/1943 Big Wave Bay, Hong Kong.
DATE AND PLACE OF GC ACTION: 10/07 – 18/12/1943 Hong Kong.
Ford was born in Galashiels on 18th September, 1918. He was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Douglas and Margaret Ford (nee Allan) , of 25 Bryce Avenue, Portobello. He was educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh. A keen sportsman, excelling in rugby and cricket, he rose to school captain in 1936. He was 20, and on part-time studies at Edinburgh University for chartered accountancy, when he joined the Royal Scots at the outbreak of war. A member of the university O.T.C., he was commissioned, and posted to Hong Kong. His brother, James Allan Ford, was also a captain in the Royal Scots. This was the first time that two brothers in the regiment had served together in Hong Kong.
Douglas Ford GC
He was 24 years old and serving in the 2nd Battalion, Royal Scots. When the Japanese invaded Hong Kong in December 1941, he became a prisoner of war. While in captivity he managed, with a number of others, including Temporary Colonel Lanceray Newnham GC, to make contact with British agents. They were arranging a scheme for a mass break out when on 10th July 1943, they were betrayed by Bushir Ahmed and arrested. Both men were interrogated, starved, tortured and finally sentenced to death in an endeavour to make them talk, but they refused to implicate their fellow prisoners and both were shot on 18th December 1943.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: ROYAL SCOTS REGIMENT MUSEUM, EDINBURGH.
BURIAL PLACE: STANLEY MILITARY CEMETERY, HONG KONG.
PLOT 1 ROW B GRAVE 41.
Acknowledgements:
Kevin Brazier – Cemetery Map.
Thomas Stewart – Image of the Ford GC Medal Group at the Royal Scots Regiment Museum.