Obituary by Bob Kemp first published in the Scotman, 6 August 2010.
Colonel Douglas Spratt followed his father, a Royal Engineer, into the Army. As a young TA soldier he was one of the first to be called up at the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939. Serving first as an anti-aircraft gunner at High Wycombe, he then commissioned in northern India and went on to serve as the Adjutant of 519 Ack Ack Regiment based at Camp Pilton in Edinburgh, before leaving the Army in 1948 and joining Unilever.
When the first Edinburgh Military Tattoo was held in 1950 and the castle needed to be lit, Spratt found two heavy duty aircraft searchlights in his garage. He was immediately offered a job with the Tattoo team. His skill and knowledge of searchlights became apparent and he was eventually appointed to the position of lighting director, a job that he held for 40 years. He toured the world with the Tattoo team, helping to produce 10 in Australia, 11 in South Africa and others in Italy and Denmark.
Spratt commanded 432 Light Ack Ack Regiment as a TA Lieutenant Colonel from 1964 until 1967. He was appointed a High Constable of Edinburgh 40 years ago, a position he held until the end of his life, and he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of the City in the early 1980s. On retirement from the TA, he served for a further 12 years as the Honorary Colonel of 71 Engineer Regiment.
Spratt jointly founded the Volunteer Officers' Ball in 1953 - a highly successful annual event that continues to this day and which was attended by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal in 2007. More recent Volunteer Balls in Edinburgh have raised thousands of pounds for both military and civilian charities. Spratt was awarded an OBE for his voluntary work and then was elevated to the position of Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.
Spratt chaired the Territorial, Auxiliary and Volunteer Reserves' Association (TAVRA) for the Lowlands for a period and he eventually retired from his civilian job as a director of Crawfords, part of United Biscuits. As Scottish president of the United Kingdom Reserve Forces' Association, Spratt identified a need to foster better team spirit and to improve the integration of reservists of all services and nations. In 1980 he set up an annual military shooting competition called the NATO Shoot, which became one of the UK's most popular military competitions.
His outreach to many NATO nations was unmatched and Spratt was always keen to encourage non-NATO teams to participate. His vision of a Partnership for Peace programme was well advanced before the Ministry of Defence took up the idea and teams from Switzerland, South Africa, Estonia, Moldova and Poland were regular visitors to the Edinburgh-based shoot. Many of these countries and more were well represented at his funeral in Edinburgh.
In uniform, Spratt is remembered as a leader who "got things done". When asked to help or to do something beyond the norm, his response was always "Just leave it with me." It was always a pleasure, and great fun to work with such a dedicated, committed and enthusiastic soldier and a man of considerable vision who never took no for an answer. His sheer determination throughout his illness shone through. His sense of humour never left him and his dogged determination was undoubtedly a major factor in his return to almost full operational capability.
He was a remarkable man who was unique in his achievements: a loving husband and father and a soldier who saw the need to foster the volunteering spirit in all those with whom he came into contact. His enthusiasm for all he did was abundantly clear and hugely contagious; you simply had to follow him, sometimes in awe, sometimes in wonder, always in anticipation of success and often with a smile.
Douglas Spratt, active to the end, died after a short illness in his 90th year. He was pre-deceased by his daughter Gillian in 1997 and is survived by Margaret, his wife of 53 years.
