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Auction: 25001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 41

The Africa General Service Medal awarded to District Commissioner H. M. Douglas, Aro Frontier Force, whose long service in Africa saw him thanked by the Secretary of State for his actions during the Ngor Rising and a brace of 'mentions' for fine services in Nigeria

Africa General Service 1902-56, 4 clasps, Aro 1901-1902, S. Nigeria 1902, S. Nigeria 1904, S. Nigeria 1905-06 (Dis: Comr. H. M. Douglas, Aro F.F.), extremely fine

M.I.D. London Gazette 23 February & 18 September 1906.

Harold Mordey Douglas was born at Sunderland in January 1875, the son of Mordey and Emma Douglas. Joining the Colonial Service in 1894 he served initially as consular agent for Puerto de la Luz, Canary Islands. He was appointed Assistant District Commissioner with the Niger Coast Protectorate in 1897 - the start of a long career in Africa. Whilst in the Protectorate he became involved in organising transport for a cross river-expedition which occurred in 1900.

The outbreak of the Anglo-Aro War in 1901 saw Douglas appointed Political Officer with No. 2 column, Aro Field Force. The fighting was surprisingly fierce given the disparity in forces with the city of Arochukwu falling after four days of fighting. The war ended not long after the fall of Bende in the Spring of 1902.

Appointed District Commissioner for South Nigeria in 1902, Douglas received the thanks of the Secretary of State for his prompt actions taken in suppressing the Ngor rising in June 1902, earning his South Nigeria 1902 clasp in the process. Again appointed Political Officer to the Imo River expedition, Southern Nigeria in March 1904 he served under the command of then Major Hugh Trenchard.

Joining the Bende-Onitsha Hinterland expedition, again as Political Officer, he was 'mentioned' for this service as well as earning the 1905-1906 clasp. The London Gazette on 23 February 1906 states the following of his work there:

'After the withdrawal of the Ouitsha Hinterland patrol from the Owerri District, the inhabitants of a small district to the east of Owerri, which had not been visited, refused to allow passage along their roads, and fired on a military escort travelling over one of them. The District Commissioner, Mr. H. M. Douglas, and a small force under Lieutenant Halfpenny, with 86 rank and file, visited the country and met with constant resistance, four soldiers being killed and three wounded before this thickly-populated district submitted.'

After the expedition Douglas was appointed Senior District Commissioner in 1906 before transferring to Central Province as Acting Provincial Secretary in 1908-09. His final role was as Acting Assistant Provincial Commissioner and Provincial Secretary of Central Province in 1910-13. Douglas was still living at Warri Province in 1914, he died on 24 May 1926 at the Kapara Estate, Fort Jameson, North-East Rhodesia; sold together with copied extracts from medal rolls, London Gazette entries and other research.

Note further information on Douglas can be found in an Article in the O.M.R.S. journal of March 2019 entitled 'Black Douglas'.

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Estimate
£800 to £1,200

Starting price
£700