Douglas Swadling was born in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, on 20 May 1922, the son of Charles Henry and Alice May Swadling. He had a younger brother Gordon Swadling. In September 1939 he was employed as a Gas Fitter’s Mate and was living with his parents at 130, Little Marlow Road, Marlow. Buckinghamshire.

After the outbreak of WWII he joined the Royal Navy as a Stoker. By August 1945 he had been advanced to Acting Leading Stoker and he was serving in the Submarine Depot Ship HMS WOLFE at Trincomalee in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). He is reported to have died on 14 August 1945 from injuries received in an accidental fall on board HMS WOLFE. Douglas Swadling is buried in Grave 1.B.7. in the Kannatta Cemetery in Colombo, Ceylon.