Stanley McDougall
{{Short description|Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Stanley McDougall
|image= Stan McDougall VC A05155.jpg
|image_size= 250
|alt=
|caption= Sergeant Stanley Robert McDougall {{circa}} 1917
|nickname=
|birth_date= {{Birth date|1889|07|23|df=yes}}
|birth_place= Hobart, Tasmania
|death_date= {{Death date and age|1968|07|07|1889|07|23|df=yes}}
|death_place= Scottsdale, Tasmania
|placeofburial= Norwood Crematorium, Canberra
|allegiance= Australia
|branch= Australian Imperial Force
|serviceyears= 1915–1918
|rank= Sergeant
|servicenumber=
|unit= 47th Battalion
|commands=
|battles= First World War
|awards= Victoria Cross
Military Medal
|relations=
|laterwork=
}}
Stanley Robert McDougall, {{postnominals|country=AUS|size=100|sep=,|VC|MM}} (23 July 1889 – 7 July 1968) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award given to British and Commonwealth forces for gallantry in the face of the enemy.[http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/16894275 Australian V.Cs., The Sydney Mail, (Wednesday, 23 July 1919), p.10-13; p.12.]
Early life
The son of the sawmiller John Henry McDougall (1854–1910),[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/10057277 Deaths: McDougall, The (Hobart) Mercury, (Monday, 28 March 1910), p.1] and Susannah Ann McDougall (1856–1919), née Cate,[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/9026746 Marriages: McDougall—Cate, The (Hobart) Mercury, (Thursday, 26 February 1884), p.1][https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/12359311 Deaths: McDougall, The (Hobart) Mercury, (Saturday, 1 March 1919), p.1] McDougall was born on 23 July 1889 at Recherche Bay, Tasmania,[https://stors.tas.gov.au/RGD33-1-68p813j2k Births in the District of Southport, 1889, Tasmanian Archives and Heritage Office Collection.] where he was raised and educated.
In civilian life, he was an amateur boxer,[http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/186986188 Boxing, The Tasmanian News, (Thursday, 11 August 1910), p.2.] and a blacksmith by trade, and was considered an excellent horseman, an expert marksman, and a competent bushman.{{cite web | url =http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mcdougall-stanley-robert-7347| title =Biography – Stanley Robert McDougall – Australian Dictionary of Biography| last =Williams| first =J. G.| date =1986| website =Australian Dictionary of Biography| publisher =The National Centre of Biography at the Australian National University| access-date =28 October 2017}}
War service
Illness prevented him from enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force to fight in the First World War until 31 August 1915. He was 28 years old and a sergeant in the 47th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force when he performed the actions for which he was awarded the VC.
On 28 March 1918 at Dernancourt, France, when an enemy attack succeeded in securing a foothold in the Allied line, McDougall charged the second wave single-handedly, killing seven men and capturing a machine-gun, which he turned on the attackers, routing them and causing many casualties. He continued his attack until his ammunition ran out, when he seized a bayonet and charged again, killing three men and an officer. Then, using a Lewis gun, he killed many more of the enemy and made it possible for 33 prisoners to be taken. His prompt action saved the line and halted the enemy's advance.{{London Gazette|issue=30667|supp=y|page=5354|date=30 April 1918}} The fighting ground where this took place was the location where his younger brother Wallace had been killed some nine months earlier.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11392788 |title=SERGT. McDOUGALL, V.C. |newspaper=The Mercury |volume=CVIII |issue=15,145 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=11 May 1918 |accessdate=30 October 2017 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article81364695|title=JERRY M'DOUGALL'S V.C.|date=29 June 1918|newspaper=The Daily News|accessdate=30 October 2017|issue=13,525|location=Western Australia|volume=XXXVII |page=5|quote=The scene of the exploit was also the scene on June 7 last of the death in action of Private Wallace McDougall (23), a younger brother, who came under machine-gun fire, and was afterwards caught by a barrage of shells, being blown to atoms.|via=National Library of Australia}}
Eight days later he repelled another enemy attack at the same spot, for which he was awarded the Military Medal.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51004537 |title=Three Tasmanian V.C.'s. |newspaper=The Examiner |volume=LXXXVII |issue=247 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=15 October 1918 |accessdate=30 October 2017 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}
Later life
On 19 August 1918, he was invested with the Victoria Cross at Windsor Castle by King George V. He returned to Australia and was discharged on 15 December 1918.
McDougall subsequently worked for the Tasmanian Forestry Department and became an inspector in charge of forests in the north-western part of Tasmania. He returned to London in 1956 for the celebration marking 100 years since the establishment of the Victoria Cross. He died on 7 July 1968 at Scottsdale, Tasmania,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article107061507 |title=Winner of VC dies |newspaper=The Canberra Times |volume=42 |issue=12,047 |date=8 July 1968 |accessdate=30 October 2017 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}} and was survived by his wife Martha (née Anderson-Harrison), whom he had married in 1926; they had no children.{{cite web| url =http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mcdougall-stanley-robert-7347| title =Biography – Stanley Robert McDougall – Australian Dictionary of Biography| last =Williams| first =J. G.| date =1986| website =Australian Dictionary of Biography| publisher =The National Centre of Biography at the Australian National University| access-date =28 October 2017}} He is buried at Norwood Crematorium, Canberra.
A street in Canberra is named after him. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Australian War Memorial.{{Cite web|url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2085741|title=Military Medal : Sergeant S R McDougall, 47 Battalion, AIF|website=www.awm.gov.au|language=en|access-date=29 October 2017}}
File:Stan McDougall VC A03692.jpg|A retouched portrait of Sergeant (Sgt) Stanley Robert McDougall VC MM
Footnotes
{{Reflist|2}}
References
- [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/242727531 Forty-Five Australian Soldiers Have Won The Victoria Gross, The (Melbourne) Herald, (Saturday, 24 August 1918), p.6.]
- [http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-36065879/download?downloadOption=pdf&firstPage=0&lastPage=33 Tasmania's Heroes: Awards for Valour, N.G. Davies, (Hobart), 1918].
- J. G. Williams, [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A100254b.htm "McDougall, Stanley Robert (1889–1968)"], Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 10, Melbourne University Press, 1986, p. 261.
- [https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ViewPDF.aspx?B=1935401&D=D World War I Service Record: Stanley Robert McDougall (4061)]
- [https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ViewPDF.aspx?B=1942471&D=D World War I Service Record: Wallace Carlyle McDougall (682)]
- [https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1651467 Australian War Memorial: Roll of Honour: Wallace Carlyle McDougall (682)]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:McDougall, Stanley}}
Category:Australian World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross
Category:Australian Army soldiers
Category:Australian people of Scottish descent