Obituary Chris Davidson
Chris Davidson (FH 1947-50) was born on 24 February 1933 in Niteroi, Brazil and spent his early years growing up between Santos and Rio de Janeiro. At the age of 13, he travelled alone on a ship to England to join his father who had returned soon after the war. He described the approach up the Bristol Channel in thick fog early in April 1946 as ‘forbidding’ and must have been a big contrast with South America.
After a year at Redhill in Surrey, he was sent to Blundell's which he says turned him from a Portuguese 'Malacca' into a young English Gentleman. He often reflected in later life just how influential Blundell's was in shaping his values, competitive spirit and strong moral compass, regularly visiting as an OB, and more so since his son Rupert (aka Bill) attended the school in the early 1980s (FH 1981-85).
Chris left Blundell’s after his lower sixth, securing an apprenticeship to become a radio communications engineer at the Marconi Company. A dual national, he was called up for national service in the RAF, which relieved him from doing military service in the Brazilian Army. He was commissioned into the Technical (Signals) Branch, working on ground radar systems before returning to Marconi, where he specialised in long haul communications, well before satellites.
This started a career of work overseas, beginning in 1956 with a posting to Cairo immediately after the Suez crisis, when he was the second British national allowed into Egypt. He went on to work for Marconi, ITT and International Aeradio on residential assignments in Africa, the Middle East, the Indian Ocean, South America and the Far East. His work progressed from building or servicing radio stations in remote parts of the world through to senior roles project managing major communications infrastructure such as satellite stations and development projects like the King Khalid Hospital in Jeddah - all of which required high levels of diplomacy and communication, skills which he felt he gained through his time at Blundell's.
He retired in 1991 after a final posting back to Riyadh for British Telecom and, after a year, left on the very last flight before the start of the first Gulf War. He continued to travel and sail throughout his retirement from his base first in Henley on Thames and, for the last 25 years, Milford on Sea. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Zissa, two children and grandchildren.
As a quirk of coincidence, his granddaughter Ellie (who was offered a sports scholarship to Blundell's) is engaged to be married in September to James, son of Charlie Faye (FH 1977-82), who she met through playing touch rugby in Manchester. Charlie was three years above Rupert at FH in the 1980s.