Lieutenant (CS) David Walton RM Formerly Staff Bdmr RMBX2413

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Born at Spennymoor, Co. Durham on 17 March 1932, David was the youngest of five children. Leaving school at 14 and starting as a messenger boy, he was encouraged to enlist in the RM Band Service by his father, presumably to escape the unremitting toil of inevitable local employment down the coal mines.
Whether or not he had displayed any previous musical talent or training is not known, however he enlisted as a Band Boy at Newcastle Naval Careers Office on 12 November 1946 and then travelled down south to Oxfordshire where he became a member of 101 squad; the first to form at Burford since the recent move from the Isle of Man. Other members were Jock Brown, Keith Wishart, John Borrington and Ray Woodfield, all later to make their mark on the Band Service.
David had been assigned to the oboe – probably according to the unscientific formula of those immediately post-war days of the need for numbers – which meant doubling on cymbals or bass drum for parade-band work.
In the relatively free atmosphere at Burford, David thrived at athletics, cross-country running in particular, and enjoyed haring with the rest of the boys over the fields of the local landowner and squire Colonel Savage, whose pheasants sometimes miraculously found their way into the Boys’ huts, to be cooked in mess-tins to supplement the always meagre rations, on the two great stoves that heated the rooms. Major Buckley, “B” Company commander, must have detected early signs of leadership potential as David was appointed Section Leader and put in charge of one of the rooms. This early experience stood him in good stead and was fully realised by promotion to the highest non-commissioned rank later.
In those days it was still a seven-days-a-week daily routine, and Sunday morning church parade required the “Other Denominations” to fall out and take a 3 ton truck down into Burford where they were expected to proceed to their respective places of worship. David was not one of those who took the chance to sit in the front parlour of the Swan Inn and read Sunday papers with tea and sticky buns, and it was through his diligent attendance at the Methodist Chapel that he met his future wife Phyllis. He was rated Musician in September 1949 at 17 1/2 years of age and in January 1950 he joined the Home Fleet Band in HMS Superb for two years – taking time in August at the tender age of 18 to tie the knot with Phyllis – before going to St Vincent in Gosport in January 1952 for six months followed by a very short spell in Pembroke at Chatham. Promoted Corporal in September 1953, he then went to the Mediterranean Fleet Band in HMS Phoenicia, Malta where he spent 2 1/2 years touring the Mediterranean with the Band often in the C in C’s yacht Surprise.
He returned to RMSM Deal in March 1956 for 9 months then to BRNC Dartmouth in February 1957 for 8 months followed by 10 months in Raleigh at Torpoint where he was promoted Sergeant in December 1958.
Selected for the 1960 Bandmasters' Class he diligently applied himself, passing well and being promoted Bandmaster in July 1961.
During these years, married life produced two daughters and the family settled in the newly built Fiveways Rise at Sholden, Deal; nicknamed at the time ‘West Barracks’ as so many RMs bought there.
In March 1963 he joined HMS Tiger as Bandmaster, leaving in the December for Lympstone for almost a year, then on to HMS Ark Royal for four months. 1968 saw him at BRNC Dartmouth for 18 months, during which time he was promoted to Staff Bandmaster.
His final year in the Band Service was spent back at Lympstone and he was then accepted into the Royal Naval Careers Service, Cardiff office, where he served until promoted to Lieutenant (Careers Service) RM in February 1977.
This entailed a move back to Kent and he was put in charge of the Canterbury office. During these years he had married Eileen, making their home in Chestfield, Whitstable. In 1983 an attractive offer for him had arisen with the Youth Training Scheme at Sittingbourne and Faversham, and this tied in nicely with the planned reduction of the Canterbury Careers Office to a sub-branch run from Chatham. His time there was enjoyable as he felt a real reward in helping young people make more of their lives with opportunities under the scheme.
Around this time he started to experience difficulty with his vision and medical examination revealed that he had detached retinas in both eyes leaving him permanently disadvantaged. It may have been connected with this that he then went to work in 1989 for Trade Indemnity plc in Canada Square, London as an administrative officer and thus joined the band of commuters on the North Kent Line until 1994 when he had had enough and decided to retire.
Some years ago he ignored signs that indicated a problem with micturition and stoically soldiered on, until finally seeking medical advice. By then he had developed prostate cancer and it was inoperable, finally spreading to his spine. Treatment at Canterbury Hospital could only be palliative, and the situation was exacerbated when Eileen herself, who had given him such loyal support since their marriage, suddenly developed a digestive problem that swiftly became cancer of the oesophagus. Going in for an operation, she never recovered and died in November 2003.
David’s condition inevitably worsened and late in 2004 he needed to spend periods in the Pilgrims’ Hospice in Canterbury where he was cared for with real compassion. However, early this year it was clear that he could no longer manage at home and he remained in the Hospice until the end, passing quietly in the evening of 7 April, having been greatly cheered by the visits and messages of many former colleagues and friends over the previous weeks, enjoying the occasional wee dram “for purely social purposes” as he would put it, always with that impish gleam in his eye and never a word of complaint at the intense suffering he must have endured.
He leaves two daughters, Gillian and Carol, from his first marriage, and a step-daughter, Carol, who did so much to make his final years comfortable.
As a member of the RMBS, David proved his worth as a musician by possessing the necessary qualities as a conductor and leader, integrity, loyalty and compassion; and it has been humbling to this writer to discover the number of testimonials that have come in from former shipmates who have remembered small acts of help rendered by David over the years, truly the mark of a fine all-round person, whose \0\0early upbringing was later reflected in the fine principles of moral character he displayed. Perhaps as a Coda: David was at one time in the 1960s, secretary to “Fred”, Lt Colonel Vivian Dunn himself. Now there was a man who knew dependability when he found it, never took any prisoners, and with whom no one who was deficient in any quality would last five minutes. Perhaps David could have no better testimonial.
Obit by: Terry Freestone\0\0