Tonbridge School and the Great War: Major Dougall
As we approach Remembrance Sunday and the centenary commemorations for the end of the First World War, the school is paying tribute to those among its ranks who served in the conflict, many of whom made the ultimate sacrifice.
By the end of the war 415 Tonbridgians had died, roughly the size of the school at that time. The Tonbridge death rate of one in five of those who served is the average across all public schools; the overall national death rate is one in ten. Death fell disproportionately on the young. About half of Tonbridgians killed were 24 years of age or under, and half of them were aged 20 or under. Most of them were junior officers in the Army.
Over the coming days we are highlighting some of the individual stories of Tonbridgians who served in the Great War.
Today we feature Major Eric Stuart Dougall.
For more about Tonbridge School and the Great War, including complete records of all who served, as well as features, calendars, a timeline and wartime copies of The Tonbridgian, please click here.
Major Eric Stuart Dougall
V.C. M.C., R.F.A. (S.R.). O.C. A/88TH BDE. R.F.A. KILLED IN ACTION ON MOUNT KEMMEL APRIL 14TH, 1918. AGED 32.
Biographical extract from Tonbridge School And The Great War:
At the School 1899-1905 (Day Boy). Major Eric Stuart Dougall, V.C., M.C, was the only son of the late Andrew Dougall. Having entered the School in September 1899, from Grove House School, Tunbridge Wells, he was appointed a House Praepostor in September 1904, and a School Praepostor in May 1905. He was in the Engineering Sixth from September 1902, and in July 1904, won the Engineering Sixth Mathematical Prize and was awarded the fourth Judde Leaving Exhibition of £70 for four years. In the following Term he won an open Natural Science Exhibition at Pembroke College, Cambridge.
In 1904 he was Captain of the 2nd XV. and in the Cadet Corps was promoted Sergeant in January 1905. Though no sprinter, he was a beautiful runner, and in the sports of 1905 he won the first Cross Country Run, substituted in that year for the old Steeplechases on the Marshes with their exciting water jumps. He also won the mile in 4 mins. 49 4/5 secs., and “finished apparently perfectly fresh.”
At Cambridge he took his degree in 1908 with a 3rd Class in the Mechanical Science Tripos. In 1906 he won his half-blue for running, representing Cambridge in the Cross Country and making the pace for A.R. Welsh, the winner of the mile in the Inter-Varsity Sports.
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