W. A. B. Douglas

William Alexander Binny "Alec" Douglas (born 4 June 1929) is a Canadian naval historian, who was director of Directorate of History, National Defence Headquarters (Canada), 1973–1993, then director general history, 1993–94. Early life and education Born in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, the son of a British engineer working in Southern Rhodesia, Douglas left as a youngster for England and after the outbreak of World War II was evacuated to Canada with other children during the "Blitz". Reaching college age while in Canada, he joined the Canadian University Naval Training Divisions to help finance his undergraduate education at the University of Toronto, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1951. Career After training in and in 1951–1954, Douglas qualified for lieutenant with the Royal Navy, then served as a watchkeeping officer in , , and between 1955 and 1957. He then served as navigating and operations officer in and in 1958–1960. Assigned to staff duty in 1960, he became navigation equipment and trials officer on the staff of Flag Officer, Atlantic Coast, then, as a lieutenant commander became squadron navigator and operations officer with the 7th Canadian Escort Squadron in 1961–1964. During this period, he earned a Master of Arts degree in history at Dalhousie University in 1962, with a thesis on "Halifax as an element of sea power, 1749–1766". In 1964, he was posted as naval staff officer and associate professor of military studies at the Royal Military College of Canada. In 1967 he was assigned as an historian at the Directorate of History, National Defence Headquarters, in Ottawa. Promoted to commander in 1970, he became senior historian in the Directorate. During this period he completed graduate studies at Queen's University under Sydney F. Wise, earning a Ph.D. in 1973 with a thesis on "Nova Scotia and the Royal Navy, 1713–1766".