BIOGRAPHY

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES - 1 via email from John Graham Gilmour, Grandson of Stanley Graham Gilmour Sydney, Australia, 1-19-05 Ralph,      Not sure why you are so interested in Douglas Graham Gilmour but I might be able to help you with some limited information on him.      I have been for years meaning to see what if any information there was on the web and only today finally decided to try my hand and see if Douglas's name would come up in the Internet and was very surprised when at first go it popped up after my first search.      Douglas Graham Gilmour is the son of David Graham Gilmour a man who at the turn of the 20th century embarked on legal action to claim the title of Duke of Montrose back from the then current holder. Apparently a Miss Gilmour (and here I am not sure of the veracity of the statement since this has been handed down to me by my grandfather and his sons my father and uncle) "married" the then Duke of Montrose in Scotland some 300 (probably 400 now) years back and Douglas is after many generations one of the issue of that line. Stanley Graham Gilmour      Douglas had one brother (and this is where I come in) named Stanley Graham Gilmour who it just so happens was my grandfather, hence Douglas (who dies long before I was born) was my Great Uncle. Stanley joined the British army and came out to South Africa shortly after the conclusion of the 2nd Boer war (he used to amuse me as he referred to himself as a member of the army of occupation). He lived in Southern Rhodesia until the start of the 1st World War whereupon he enlisted in the Argyle and Southerland Highlanders back in Britain. However given his relationship to Douglas Air Marshall Trenchard, the first Air Marshall of the Royal Flying Corps asked him to enlist in the RFC as an aviator. The argument being that they needed good men who had some understanding of aviation (again the link to Douglas). He flew for years on all sorts of sorties over France and was eventually shot down over the war zone and imprisoned in a concentration camp by the Germans until the end of the war in 1918. He used to tell many funny stories about being fed 'black bread" and potato skin soup by the Germans! I guess he was a pioneering aviator in the RFC. My mother has a photo album of all sorts of planes which he flew (I have a couple myself) most of which seem in one way or another to have ended up crashed into barns, hangers, fields or upside down into other buildings. He was never hurt (I guess because the planes flew so slowly but the pictures have always amused me! What a pity a man like him has never been recognised for his services to his country so early in the history of planes and their use to defend Britain! Hope this helps. Best wishes, John Graham Gilmour

 

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES - 2 via email from David Barnes, 1-20-05 Webmaster of Royal Flying Corps, Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force Register 1914 - 1919 Web Site Lieutenant S G Gilmour, RFC Granted Royal Aero Club Aviators Certificate No.997 15 December 1914 Flew with 5 Squadron Captain S G Gilmour, 97 Sqn, Independant Force, RAF Temp C.O. of Squadron January 1918 - 31 March 1918 Taken Prisoner 22 August 1918 with 2nd Lieut. G E Rochester & Sergt J W Chalmers when Handley Page 0/400 D8304 on a Night Bombing Operation on Volpersweiler Aerodrome and Railway at Herzing, was forced to land East of Lines at Pechelbronn, Alsace He was repatriated to England December 13, 1918 Douglas Graham Gilmour Granted French Aero Club Aviators Certificate No.Fr.75 19 April 1910 I would certainly be interested in any further information. David J Barnes 148 Parkinson Street Burnley Lancashire England BB11 3LL

 

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES - via email from Simon Potter, 8-5-07 I've been researching the Gilmour family, as Douglas & Stanley's mother, Margaret Jane Gilmour nee Muirhead's great grandparents were my g(x4)-grandparents. I've just read Stanley Graham Gilmour's Armed forces service record at The National Archives, Kew - ref WO 339/7145. It seems to have been selectively weeded, and only covers reports and correspondence of medical boards in 1915 and 1916 - i.e it doesn't cover his earlier service in the Argyle and Sutherland highlanders, or his service with the RFC after October 1916. The main interest is the account of how he was wounded in 1916. On 12th August 1916 near Poziers (Aerodrome at Vert Galant) his propellor was hit by an AA shell and he was forced to land. The land below was very rough; he landed in a shell hole and he was thrown from his seat. His face came in contact with his Lewis gun. After an operation to his nose, he embarked 18th August from Le Harvre and arrived in Southampton the following day. He was signed off by medical boards on the 25th August and 25th September and returned to duty on 28th October 1916 (RFC 32 Squadron). His date of birth is confirmed as 27 September 1888 and his baptism certificate is also in the file.

 

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