Wg Cdr David Drake DFC & Bar AFC – RIP

rubberband2 · 5th Jan 2012, 09:19

Wg Cdr David Drake DFC & Bar, AFC RAF (Retd) passed away on Boxing Day 2011 at home in Durban, South Africa.

His funeral is tomorrow.

When I chatted with David Drake I had the impression that he knew a lot about ETPS (Empire Test Pilots School). I believe that at one period he was chief instructor there. He certainly flew some strange aircraft.

An ETPS graduate has just called to say that David Drake was a QFI tp instructor on 9 & 10 ETPS Courses (1952-53).

From the RAF Retired List – Drake E L D, DFC• AFC born 10/10/20 commd 27/3/42 Wg Cdr 1/7/58 Retd GD 16/7/66

SOSL · 5th Jan 2012, 13:44

I never met him but I respect him. RIP

rubberband2 · 7th Jan 2012, 10:58

A brief report sent from Durban, South Africa by a close friend of David –

Well, it went very well ...... there were some 40 of us altogether, including friends of Christopher (his son) and his wife's relations.
The service at Doves was simple and Christopher read some 5 pages about his father's life. Fascinating & interesting!
Afterwards we went to the Royal Natal Yacht Club for drinks and snacks. During the drinks, Christopher let run a video on David's life without words or comments. Very nice.

So David was among us during this time at the Club.
There were many photos of our little group (RAFO) at Mt.Edgecombe and the sister group (RAFA) at the Point Yacht Club, Durban.
Everyone left by 1 pm in a heat of 30ºC!
We will miss David a great deal; he was always cheerful, happy and friendly to everyone.

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