David Shuttleworth RIBA

Sadly former Lancaster navigator David Shuttleworth who was one of several wartime veteran aircrew members present at the opening of the Middleton St George Memorial Room in the St George Hotel at Teesside Airport passed away on the 31 October aged 90 years .  After being accepted for aircrew training he was shipped out to Canada to undergo his training as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and gained his brevet at Portage la Prairie in Manitoba . He very nearly never qualified as he recalled in a BBC Tees interview recorded earlier this year ;  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02qtdzf .

 He was a founder member of the Cleveland and District Branch of the Aircrew Association and held almost every branch office until the association disbanded in 2011 . An architect by profession and a very fine artist , he was in private practice in Stockton before working for Cleveland County Council from were he eventually retired . He was well known and respected amongst local aviation enthusiasts and had a passion for collecting aviation memorabilia and had a huge collection of aircraft books and models and for many years attended local squadron reunions and memorial dedications with his late wife Jean in their beloved vintage MG car .   

Such is the esteem in which he was held in tributes have appeared on Facebook and at the

David Shuttleworths funeral took place on Wednesday 9 November and was well attended by friends and family who filled St Bedes Chapel to near capacity . His coffin was draped with the Royal Air Force Ensign and was escorted into the chapel by five Standard Bearers and afterwards a collection in lieu of flowers was taken on behalf of the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund .

The photographs were taken with permission of his family

  

 

       Old aircrew never die

They merely pass on and fly in a bluer sky               

     David Shuttleworth

1925 - 2016

D Thompson

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