Douglas Ford (British Army officer)

Ford was still serving in the 2nd Battalion, Royal Scots, when he and his brother were taken prisoner by the invading Japanese upon the fall of Hong Kong in December 1941. During his captivity at Sham Shui Po POW camp he made contact with British agents and planned, in conjunction with other officers, a major break out. Before the plans could be put into operation the Japanese grew suspicious and interrogated him and others they suspected of involvement. Despite torture in Stanley Prison, starvation and a sentence of death he refused to betray his comrades. After being forced to dig his own grave, he was executed by Japanese firing squad, at Sham Shui on 18 December 1943, with two fellow prisoners, Colonel Lance Newnham, MC, the Middlesex Regiment, and Flight Lieutenant Hector Gray, Royal Air Force. He is buried in Stanley Prison cemetery.

Captain Douglas Ford GC (18 September 1918 – 18 December 1943) was a British Army officer of the Royal Scots and a British prisoner of war in the Second World War, who was posthumously awarded the George Cross for conspicuous gallantry. His citation was published in the London Gazette on 18 March 1946.

Ford was born in Galashiels in September 1918. He was a son of Mrs and Mrr Douglas Ford, of 25 Bryce Avenue, Portobello. He was educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh. A keen sportsman, excelling in rugby and cricket, he rose to school captain in 1936. He was 20, and on part-time studies at the University of Edinburgh for chartered accountancy, when he joined the Royal Scots at the outbreak of war. A member of the University OTC, he was commissioned, and posted to Hong Kong. His brother, James Allan Ford, was also a captain in the Royal Scots. This was the first time that two brothers in the regiment had served together in Hong Kong.