Lieutenant-Commander Bill Davidson

Davidson volunteered while still at school for the naval Y (or youth) scheme, and, when he was called up, was commissioned into the RNVR.

Lieutenant-Commander Bill Davidson

Large numbers of officers were needed to command the landing craft for the amphibious assault on Europe. They were trained at Inverailort Castle, near Fort William, where Davidson underwent an intensive six-week course covering navigation, signals, pilotage and boat handling; there was also physical training over assault courses and in the boxing ring. On D-Day Davidson commanded a craft which landed troops on Sword Beach.

On his return from Normandy, Davidson joined Combined Operations, and after further training was sent to the Far East as first-lieutenant of the 380-ton Landing Craft Infantry (Large) 166. When his commanding officer fell sick, Davidson took over; his captain had abused his access to the rum locker, and one of Davidson’s first tasks was to borrow rum from a neighbouring ship to square the accounts.

His first action came in Operation Dracula, the amphibious attack on Rangoon by British and Indian forces in early May 1945. The Japanese Army and the Indian National Army had largely abandoned the city. As they withdrew, Davidson passed up the Irrawaddy to rendezvous with British teams which had been dropped behind enemy lines.

His war formally ended on September 12 1945, with the surrender at Singapore of more than half a million Japanese troops in south-east Asia. Davidson stayed on, however, to assist the French in their attempts to resume their colonial administration of French Indo-China; landing French commandos on enemy strongpoints in the Mekong delta, he frequently came under heavy artillery and sniper fire. In March 1946, in Saigon, Davidson was awarded a Croix de Guerre for his calm courage and total disregard for danger.

He went on to serve in HMS Scotia, the Scottish Division of the RNR.
William Holmes Davidson was born on December 8 1924 in Musselburgh, the son of a retired soldier, and educated at the grammar school there, showing himself a fine sprinter and an accomplished pianist.
As a schoolboy he joined the Local Defence Volunteers, reporting twice a week to the local headquarters with his bicycle . At 16 he started work at the West End, Edinburgh, branch of the National Bank, at 10 shillings a week. With so many bank employees away at war, he made rapid progress before he himself was called up.
On demob, Davidson returned to the West End branch to find that little had changed . He became manager of several branches. Then, in 1970, when the bank was merged with the Royal Bank of Scotland, he was moved to head office with responsibility for business development .
With the advent of oil exploration in the North Sea, Davidson set up an office in Aberdeen, where he secured the business of BP, Total and the Houston law firm of Bracewell & Patterson, which was then active in the oil industry.
After retiring in 1984 Davidson spent 20 years as a consultant and sat on several boards , as well as serving on the Scottish and Dutch Chambers of Commerce .
Davidson’s abiding passion was rugby: in his younger years he turned out for Edinburgh Wanderers; later in life he was an indefatigable spectator, every Saturday in the winter choosing to watch what he anticipated to be the best match in Scotland or the Borders.
Bill Davidson died on March 19. He married, in 1951, Yvonne Inglis, who survives him.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/8490625/Lieutenant-Commander-Bill-Davidson.html