Sholto Douglas was a senior figure in the Royal Air Force (RAF) up to and during the Second World War.

Douglas was born in Headington, Oxfordshire, the son of Professor Robert Langton Douglas and his wife Margaret Jane (née Cannon). On his father‘s side he was descended from Sir Archibald Douglas, a younger son of William Douglas, 1st Earl of Queensberry. He was educated at Emanuel School, Tonbridge School and Lincoln College, Oxford.

At the outbreak of World War I, Douglas was commissioned in the Royal Field Artillery. In 1915, following a disagreement with his Commanding Officer, he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps joining 2 Squadron as an observer. He soon trained as a pilot and earned Royal Aero Club certificate No 1301. By September 1917 he was a major and Commanding Officer of 84 Squadron. The squadron became one of the premier RFC/RAF fighter units in 1918 and by the end of the war Douglas had been awarded a Military Cross and a Distinguished Flying Cross.