Lieutenant-Colonel W.A. Stevenson
1st Battalion, Gordon Highlanders
During the whole of these operations the personal example of cheerfulness of the C.O. and his obvious control of every situation was mainly responsible in keeping the battalion steady and intact. A remark made by one of the men illustrates this. When the C.O. seized a bren gun to cover the withdrawal of “S” Coy HQ a soldier was heard to say “There goes the mobile reserve: now we are all right.”
(D.S.O. citation, 31 Aug 1944)
Born in Guildford, Surrey on 7 September 1912, William Alexander Stevenson was the son of Major-General Alexander Gavin Stevenson, (1871—1939), a veteran of the Egyptian Army, the Boer War and First World War. The oldest son, W.A. Stevenson, belonged to the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders and was stationed in India at the outbreak of the Second World War. His younger brother, Wing Commander Michael Gavin Stevenson died on active service in Egypt on 29 November 1942.
World War Graphic History 