Obituary for Captain D O James

Dougie James of Ipswich died in October 2007 aged 73. A former WO1 Royal Anglian Staff Clerk, he then served for 21 years with Suffolk ACF as County HQ Admin Officer, retiring in 1998 as a captain. Known as ‘Dougie’ he was born and educated in India. At his funeral, well attended by many serving and retired Royal Anglian and Suffolk ACF adults/officers, the black-draped Suffolk Regiment standards of the Bury St Edmunds and Ipswich Branches were carried by Colin Smith and Taff Gillingham. His Union Flag draped coffin entered to the playing of the song Blueberry Hill and was followed by his medals borne on a red velvet cushion. In a moving service we listened to memories of their childhood in India, recalled by his sister Daphne Palesky, and heard the Stevie Wonder song I just called to say I love you with the reading of the collects of the Suffolk and Royal Anglian Regiments. Dougie departed to Speed the Plough. He is survived by his wife Iris, his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Below is the eulogy by Maj Stan Bullock MBE:

‘Clerk extraordinaire, Soldier of Talent, Friend and Saviour to many but most of all husband and devoted father. I know very little of Doug’s early life apart from knowing he met and fell in love with Iris at a very early age and kept that love and adoration for the whole of his life.

Doug joined 1 Suffolks in Trieste in 1953 and I joined them in Wuppertal in 1955. We did not know each other then but as the years went by we became serving friends which is so very different from an ordinary friendship. It is a friendship for life and has more bonding owing to the various actions and activities that one has gone through. As time went by with amalgamations and many moves around the world, promotions were achieved and marriages and families appeared, the friendship between those families also grew and strengthened. Every member of our group of friends celebrated all the occasions that families celebrated from births and christenings to marriages and anniversaries. Parties were held at homes and in various Messes where each and every one of us joined in and enjoyed the occasions. Doug was always there sitting quietly watching what was happening and making jokes about one and all. Drinks were one of his favourite tricks. He violently refused to buy the first round and we would claim he ‘Was a tight git’; but then he would insist on buying his share and always the last round. Our group being Roy and Pat Sharpe, John and Aura Watson, John and Norma Reid and many many others, just to name a few, with Jenny and I being in the group also; a wonderful time to be living and to have such lovely friends.

Doug was very clerically minded and became installed in the Hall of Fame (the Orderly) room within the Battalion HQ as a clerk and very quickly became a fount of knowledge regarding military law (and customs) to all of us not so intellectually minded. He had a memory bank that was absolutely phenomenal as he could recite regimental number, christian names and enlistment dates from memory of nearly all of the Battalion members, especially mine as he always responded to my phone calls with my regimental number and enlistment date! His promotions through his service were highly deserved as he worked very hard for them.

Doug served in Trieste, BAOR, Cyprus, Berlin, British Guiana, Aden and Northern Ireland, in addition to various UK postings. Doug was awarded the GSM for Cyprus and the 1962 GSM with clasps for South Arabia and the Radfan and various tours of Northern Ireland. On leaving the Regular Forces Doug’s military discharge book was recorded with Military Service Exemplary – an entry that was so very highly deserved.

The word exemplary was to follow him for the rest of his life as a husband, father, grandfather and to his great joy, a great-grandfather – he doted on his daughters, grandchildren and his great grand-children. We would gather at Regimental gatherings and Doug could be seen in the middle of the groups of colleagues, chatting and retelling stories as good as the rest of them. His memory would outstrip all of the others and roars of laughter could be heard coming from the group. Doug loved attending the reunions as did Iris. They would appear with various members of the family and proudly move around chatting to all of the groups.

On leaving the Regular Forces Doug and Iris took on the Halberd Inn in Ipswich as landlord and landlady and what a fantastic job they made of it. For eight and a half years they ran the place with humour, efficiency, and most of all, a friendship for all and sundry. Needless to say they were sadly missed when they left.

Meanwhile, Doug had become a member of Suffolk ACF. He was commissioned second lieutenant on 8 November 1989 and promoted captain on 22 October 1998. His wealth of knowledge on military matters was a tremendous benefit to the ACF and his requirements for high standards stood the ACF well in all of their various inspections. Doug retired on reaching the age of 65 and again became very involved with his beloved family.

Wherever Doug worked or served he was an asset to not only to his beloved Regiment, but also to his Queen, country and the public and he will be very sorely missed. All who came into contact with him respected him and, in many cases, loved him dearly. Please, after the blessing at the end of the service the Regimental March of the Suffolk Regiment will be played. Normally we would stand for this item but Iris has asked that we bend the rules and clap our hands to the bass drum as we celebrate the life of Dougie.

JLR and HSB

Lt Col (Retd) Dan Baily writes…

I regret I did not know until I saw the notice of his death that Douglas James had served as an admin officer with the TA for many years. But I knew him years before that (can it really be 40?) when he was ORC and then ORS of the 1st Battalion after we had returned from Aden to Celle in 1965-68. At the time I was IO and then Adjutant to Tim Creasey, a staff-training education in itself (partly going back to Creasey’s own post-war experience as Adjutant to the legendary and awe-inspiring ‘Uncle Bob’ Turner-Cain, CO 1 R Norfolk in Schloss Neuhaus).

CSgt James was a real tower of strength in the key job of Chief Clerk, especially to me in those days before there was a JDSC to teach young officers ‘joined-up writing’, and before Assistant Adjutants became the fashion. No PCs on every desk either – everything was handwritten, typed onto ‘skins’ by Lillian (Mrs John/QM Tech)) Bedford on an immense manual Adler typewriter, checked by the Adjutant and then by the Chief Clerk, and run off on the Gestetner duplicator. Ah, those were the days…

I can still remember the reproachful but triumphant look on the Chief’s face when he could come back in with an error he had found. Doug took immense pride in the Battalion and in everything he did at its hub. He was immensely conscientious and painstaking but never ‘boring’ or pompous about his work, and he had a sardonic sense of humour that leavened the weight of the never-ending bumph in the trays. It was always good to see him first thing in the morning (he always seemed to be first in) and I for one will value my memories of him.