David Graham

Descendants

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Biography

David Graham was the youngest of 6 children. His parents died when he was quite young and he was raised by an elder brother. He was obliged to leave school at 14 and went to work in the shipyards in Govan. He attended night school and managed to obtain qualifications as a Naval Architect. Before the second world war he was appointed deputy Surveyor General of Ships in Singapore. During the war he was a prisoner of war in the Japanese POW camp at Changi, Singapore, and was responsible with others for hiding the clandestine radio in the camp. Unlike many of his fellow prisoners, he survived. After the war he was appointed Surveyor General of Ships for Singapore and Malaya, and married Joy Perry Shaw. They had two children, Alistair, and Jennifer. He returned to the UK about 1960, because his son Alistair had contracted polio and needed treatment. He then lived in Chandler's Ford, Hampshire, England, and worked as a ship surveyor at the Board of Trade in Southampton until he retired about 1976. About that time he and his wife Joy moved to Romsey, Hampshire, England. He died in 1983.

Recorded by Alan and Jennifer Boswell 26th October 2014.

Sources

• Birth, Marriage & death certificates held by Alan and Jennifer Ann Boswell 26th October 2014.