Comments for Andy Crouch Photography

Comment on Donald Donaldson-Davidson, 1923 – 2011. by Roy

Roy — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 18:04:47 +0000

I had the honour of being Don’s senior officer in the Ambulance Control Room. I cannot say I was his boss as Don did not have a boss. He was an eccentric man in some respects such as bringing the sugar for his tea in a pickle onion jar. Nobody else fancied onion flavored sugar. He had an expression as left the control room at the end of each shift, to check if he forgotten anything and I use it myself even today, ‘Testicles, Spectacles, Wallet and Watch I’m off’. We had to have a passport photograph taken for an identity card Don used one of the photo booths. He though that you got two photos and not four, as a result he got two photos of the back curtain. It didn’t take much effort to get him to submit a blank. The admin officer came up to see him, Don looked at the photo and with a straight face said he couldn’t understand what happened, he was on it when he sent it down to the admin office. Often in the quiet hour of a night we would play Grand Prix together he always won. After he retired my wife and myself kept in touch and he and Duncan would drive out to our house in one of his sporty cars. We supplied Don and Duncan with a Christmas cake each year. As we were leaving he would always say “The cake will suffer some serious damage shortly”. The face I see has not changed from the time he commenced in the control room it will never change, grow older and will remain in our minds as it was the last time we saw him a couple of years ago.

Comment on Donald Donaldson-Davidson, 1923 – 2011. by Duncan

Duncan — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 10:28:12 +0000

Ah the old bugger! he was a terror in front of a camera! but this is a good one I can almost hear him saying “come on Crouch dont take all bloody day my GnT is getting warm”! His EDP obitury was good they were offered a reproduction of a cartoon of him in uniform done by the famous cartoonist ‘Pat Rooney (showing him as a tall F/O Navigator – he was 6ft 5!) but decided to not use it so no image of ‘DD’ appeared. his RAF career and marriage to Anna, his boys, politics motorsport and driving veteren and vintage cars (of which he owned well over 100 ranging from Allard J2X’s W/O Bentleys and right through the alphabet to SS100), old houses and cloud formations and opera were his life long passions. He travelled the world with the RAF from Aden Africa america Burma Canada Europe Hong Kong India Java Sumatra to South America, with endless minor moves in between. He once said “they paid me to do all this”?!. He once said an attack on several Irrawaddy river Sampan supply boats in Burma during the war (knowing that the Japanese used local villagers to captain them) was the tuning point in his life from ‘enthusiastic youth’ to ‘questioning maturity’. He served in 2 further conflicts one the re-occupation of the Dutch East Indies he was distinctly uncomfortable with, “we had just kicked the Jap’s out now we were arming them and re-invading whilst being killed for another country”! He met a young 5ft 1inch ball of fire, Nurse Alice Lily Meade (Anna) in Paris in 1949 while in hospital after a botched re-supply run for his Mess at Chateaux Wenz, he Drove his car into the ditch opposite the gates, “er I forgot to turn right” The next 18 years were the happiest of his life, (with Anna and then joined by two sons who could swear in at least three different languages) traveling the world together. The excitment of being on Fighter stations and close friendships, and instructing on Lightnings was the highlight of his career. “Seeing the sun rise twice in one day from 0 to 60.000ft straight up, and back for breakfast, magical”!! The terminal diognosis of Anna in the late 1960s nearly destroyed him, but he still took early retirement after their return from Hong Kong, to help her with a dream she had of running a shop and a gift import business through her ‘China Products (Communist China craft outlet Kowloon) contacts’. Anna lasted just over a year but Don had “no regretss” even though the RAF offered promotion and a further 5 years from him, he was 49. A kind man who quietly worked for various charities he left his post RAF career as an Estate Agent (which he really enjoyed) to work as an Ambulance Control Assistant “to be able to put something back in”. He worked as a ‘Viewer’ for various Estate agencies and also for SAFA after he retired at 65, Up until his early 80s. His letter campaigns, on many subjects he felt strongly about asked incredibly well researched questions that demanded answers. His “Grankidies” were the continuance of his love for Anna. This photo shows off his crumpled old face well knowing what lay behind it might help the viewer. Have a stiff GnT a dry sherry or a robust Rioja with some “nibbles” and be ready to discuss world and locals affairs motorsport and the merits of sleeve valve over conventional, or pre-selector over crash, and Don will love to join you.

Comment on Donald Donaldson-Davidson, 1923 – 2011. by Daniel

Daniel — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 17:22:08 +0000

This is a lovely photo of our Grandad thank you for sharing this photo Andy xxxx I would love a copy if you have one xxx

Comment on Terry O’Neil Exhibition by Tweets that mention Terry O’Neil Exhibition | Andy Crouch Photography -- Topsy.com

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 18:04:55 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Darren Leader, Andy Crouch. Andy Crouch said: New blog on my web site about the Terry O'Neil exhibition in Norwich http://tiny.cc/wjcfb [...]