Tpr. Douglas Davidson DCM.
British Army 44th Btn. C Sqn. Royal Tank Regiment
from:Motherwell
Douglas Davidson was taken prisoner on the 1st of June 1942, near the Knightsbridge Box, during the Battle of Gazala. Within the following month he made four attempts to escape, on the first occasion away from Italians who were guarding a small number of POW sleeping in the open. Although he reached the coast, he was caught by a German patrol and returned to the camp. The following night he made a similar escape but he was again recaptured. A few days later he and six others cut the wire surrounding Durna (Derna) transit camp. Davidson separated from the others and wearing Arab clothing given to him by friendly tribesmen was within sight of British positions when his disguise was seen through by a German patrol.
On his return to camp with three other escapees he was made to face a firing squad, the execution was only stayed by Davidson's direct appeal to the Commandant. In spite of this narrow escape from death he made another attempt on reaching Benghazi camp by crawling through the wire. However he was recaptured the following morning and transferred to Italy.
At the time of the Italian armistice he was at Monteurano (Camp 70) and in accordance with instructions given by the SBO took no action on hearing the news. On the 26th September during transfer to Germany, he jumped from a train near Bologna, through a hole cut in the door of the carriage. Travelling alone to Monte San Vicino he joined a rebel group. Except for one unsuccessful attempt to cross the Maiella in November 1943 he remained with this group of Partisans until he met advancing British troops on the 6th June 1944. Although he was not an NCO Davidson was put in charge of 35 - 50 guerrillas. Other escapees have praised his courage and leadership, one officer reporting that he had a reputation for outstanding courage and daring amongst the most reckless of rebels, who had the most complete confidence in him. In addition in March 1944 it was mainly due to Davidson's efforts that 8 RAF personnel were not captured when a Fascist road block was met during a drive to a rendezvous for sea evacuation.
