Lieutenant Commander David Harris MBE, Royal Navy

After Kedge Anchor 24 went to press we learned of death of David Harris on Thursday 8 March 2009 of pancreatic cancer at age   David is the immediate past Treasurer of The 1805 Club and had served faithfully since 2001 until stepping down in October 2008 for reasons of personal health.

David was a retired Lieutenant Commander RN, who enjoyed a naval career that spanned 34 years and included work on minesweepers, frigates, and submarines. He was First lieutenant of the Fleet Air Arm training school, HMS Daedalus (Lee-on-Solent) before his last service appointment as commander of HMS Victory in Portsmouth (31 March 1991 to 30 March 1994). During his tenure as Victory's Commanding Officer he took an active role in the ship's restoration. In retirement he served as deputy director of HMS Belfast, the museum ship of the Imperial War Museum, moored on the River Thames in London. He then became Director of Operations for the newly formed Greenwich Foundation and oversaw the refurbishment of the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich. Having completed this major project he became Director of The Coastal Forces Heritage Trust in 2007. He is an acknowledged expert on Naval History, specialising to some extent in the Nelson era. He was the author, with Anthony Cross, of The Nelson Almanac: A Book of Days Recording Nelson's Life and the Events that Shaped His Era (Conway Maritime Press/Naval Institute Press, 1998).

A formal memorial will appear in the next issue of The Kedge Anchor.