The Association has learned of the death of Lt(A) Colin Claude Davey RNVR. He died on 10 October 2013 and leaves a widow, Audrey.
Colin Davey died on 10th October 2013 aged 89. Born and bred in the West Midlands, he moved to Bristol with his family when 17 and, following in his father’s footsteps, joined the Great Western Railway as a Surveyor and Draughtsman. In November 1942, at the age of 18 ½ Colin joined the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve as an Observer and commenced his training at HMS Daedalus in April 1943.
He trained on a variety of aircraft including the Fairey Albacore, Avro Anson, Fairey Barracuda, Bristol Beaufighter, Fairey Firefly, Pratt & Whitney Harvard, Grumman Goose, Percival Proctor, Stinson Reliant, Fairey Swordfish and Supermarine Walrus in the UK and at locations abroad as diverse as RNAS Piarco, Trinidad and RNAS Wingfield, South Africa. He then graduated from the Night Fighter Firefly Course at Inskip in Lancashire as a Sub Lieutenant on 6th July 1945 and was posted to No 784 Squadron at Drem in Scotland. Promoted to Lieutenant, he carried out one operational tour on No 816 Squadron in April 1947 and served at Halfar and Tripoli and on HMS OCEAN flying the Firefly aircraft.
Unsuccessful in his request to enrol in the Air Branch of the RNVR, Colin returned to the UK in November 1947 and was released from Naval Service on 15thMarch 1948. During his time in the RNVR, he accumulated 433 flying hours of which 50 hours were flown at night and 14 deck landings.
Colin returned to his former job with the railways but maintained his links with the military and joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve and flew mainly Avro Ansons until 1953 and relinquished his commission as a Flight Lieutenant in 1959. He was married in September 1952. He moved from Bristol to Buckinghamshire in 1962 upon promotion to the British Railway Board in London. He became a freemason in 1958 and was Worshipful Master of the Windsor Lodge in 1976. Colin retired from the railways in 1985. Throughout his life Colin travelled extensively by rail, by sea and by air. In retirement he and his wife Audrey enjoyed bowls and Colin played a full and active part in the running of the club until ill-health forced him to curtail his activities.
Colin leaves a widow, Mrs Audrey Davey, who lives in Wimborne, Dorset.