Encounter 3: David Whitfield

David was born in February 1926, just over a year before I arrived on the scene. I knew him when he was a member of my division when we were both serving in the Royal Navy. The Wikipedia articles says that he entertained his fellow members of the Royal Navy during World War II". He certainly entertained his shipmates when I first met him, but he may not have actually joined the Royal Navy until after the war. We certainly recognized his talent, but it was only recently that I had learned of some of his achievements. He was the first UK male vocalist to earn a Gold Disk for the number of his records that were sold. He was very famous when I saw him next. This was probably in the late fifties, when at my request he very willingly preformed for what was some good cause, which I no longer remember. David died in Sydney, Australia when on tour, in 1980, when he was just fifty-four.