WINDRUSH OBITUARIES

Donald (Don) Henry Cremer

Don Cremer almost didn’t make it onto the Empire Windrush. He and a Royal Navy colleague, Edward Forbes, had been shopping in Hamilton but when they got back to the Dockyard they found the Windrush ready to set sail on the final leg of its journey to Tilbury. Fortunately they were not left behind and Don was able to take part in the historic journey.

Don was one of ten Royal Navy midshipmen who boarded the Windrush in Bermuda. All were destined for high office in the Navy and, apart from Forbes who was killed in an accident in 1951, all fulfilled their potential. Don went on to become a Commander by the time he retired from the Navy.

Born in Mauritius where his Lancashire-born father was working as a civil servant, Don had two older siblings one of whom, Jeffrey, was killed in World War 2. At the age of 13 Don joined the Royal Navy and was quickly identified as officer material. On 24th June 1947 he left Southampton on the RMS Aquitania bound for Bermuda where HMS Sheffield was based. This was to be his home for almost 12 months while he continued his training.

Although not required to keep a diary while on the Windrush, Don’s Royal Navy background meant that he kept a record of the voyage and this together with his sharp memory made him a unique source of information about the historic event.

He had a great sense of humour and would talk about the daily meetings on board between representatives of the Navy, RAF and Army where “nothing was ever decided” and the ship’s Welfare Officer whose main aim in life seemed to be to stem any enjoyment on the grounds of ‘health and safety.’ Don and his colleagues eventually got the Welfare Officer to allow a tug of war contest and even used their powers of persuasion to get him to purchase a prize using the ship’s welfare fund.

Overall Don recalled the journey as “a little boring but pleasant.” His main sadness was that he was not allowed to spend time with the West Indian passengers because of the strict segregation between First class and C class where the bulk of the West Indians were housed.

After Don retired from his long and successful career in the Royal Navy, he joined Post Office Telecoms which later became British Telecom. Don married schoolteacher Yvonne De La Haye in Solihull in August 1956. Best man was his fellow Windrush passenger Peter Stanford (later Sir Peter) who went on to become Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command.

Yvonne pre-deceased Don in 2004, the couple had two daughters, Deborah and Rebecca.
Latterly Don lived in Haslemere, Surrey where he was an active member of the Royal Navy School Society Committee.

A true gentleman, Don was in his 96th year when he died. He was the last survivor of the ten midshipmen who left Bermuda on the Windrush on 11th June 1948.