My Dad a Doctor in the Royal Army Medical Corps, died Feb 5th 1954, when I was 4.

For over 50 years that was all I knew about him, except he died in Alaska, when his plane flew into a mountain ...... Or so I thought !

In January 2005, whilst  I tried to research a cousin I had never met, a click of the mouse took me to a memorial plaque in Alaska.  Which had my fathers name on it! "William Ronald West-Watson"  along with the names of 10 others who perished in the crash, and then there were the names of 6 survivors. (with spelling mistake!)

Within two Days I spoke to one of the survivors, Rupert Pratt,  a very emotional phone call. I learnt that all aboard the Flight were American except my father. He was older & more senior than most of them. I learnt that the plane had broken up in midair, and the survivors had parachuted to the ground. They then spent 3 days on the Kesugi ridge, a mountain ridge in Alaska in February in blizzard conditions. A Story that Rupert Pratt has told in a book "Touching the Ancient One"  

Within 10 days of my phone call to Rupert, he had put me in touch with 2 other survivors of the crash, & the son of the Pilot. More emotion for us all. One Email From Ed Olsen, changed & influenced me in so many ways from the moment I read it. He said in his Email "that I was probably the last person to talk to your Dad".  What he could not know was that in 55 years he was the first person to ever refer to my father As "Dad". Ed saw my Dad was nervous, as the plane was in severe turbulence, and asked him if he liked classical music. He did, so he gave him his seat, the radio operator's, tuned in the radio to a classical music station & left him listening to music. Not much later the plane broke up in midair, the wing was ripped off, the bodies were tossed out into the freezing air. All the survivors remembered the co-pilots pre-boarding 'parachute' instructions,  as the freezing air hit them : GRAB the D ring & throw it away. Ed Fox reckoned he overtook a wolf when his chute was dragging him along the ground of Kesugi Ridge!

Less than 6 months later, I met Rupert, Ed Fox & Keith Betcher the son of the pilot, friendships & intense bonds were made that day. A year later I spent Thanksgiving with Ed Olsen & his family, during which he gave me his "Caterpillar Club" tie pin, only given to those who survive parachuting from a disabled aircraft. As he gave it to me he said "David I have no sons, I would really like you to have this" in a few words Ed was capable of giving so much, he gave me My Dad, and a picture of my Dads last few moments listening to classical music.

On June 10th 2005, I was on that mountain Ridge in Alaska, holding the Radio my Dad had been listening to, the remains of the C47 all around me. The sun was shining with Mount McKinley in the backdrop. (See Pic), very different from 5th Feb 1954.

It was then that I realised how lucky & fortunate I had been in my life, a surprisingly happy childhood, and sponsored through "Christ's Hospital" by my Godmother; friends who put me on the right path when I could so easily have gone down the wrong one, on numerous occasions! An incredibly happy and satisfying career at sea for over 45 years; A wonderful family. It was then I realised I wanted to sponsor & support a child in some way, possibly a child who had lost a parent or parents in an accident or incident.  

After I returned home I set up a Trust Fund "The Kesugi Fund".  I had already done 3 London Marathons for various charities, and received fantastic support from friends, family & colleagues on the ships I was working on. I did 2 more marathons, London & Rotterdam and raised nearly £10,000 for The Kesugi Fund, once again receiving FANTASTIC support from so many.

What to do with the money! So many worthy causes, a really tough decision, as is usual with me, time went by! Then in the Sunday Telegraph in October 2012 there was a long article about "Christ's Hospital" my old school, I realised the school had changed a great deal since my not so successful days there! With more research I discovered I could become a 'Donation Governor''. That ticked every box for me, the opportunity to nominate a child, & if the child was selected & got into CH. I could continue help & support them. My story is incredibly personal to me, it took me 50 years to 'find it', - I always was a bit slow! That is why it is so important to me that I get to know the child that we will help help, If you sponsor me!

There are so many deserving children, the Fillipino seafarers were always so incredibly generous when I was raising money for 'marathons' on the ships, where I worked, yet so many in that country have such troubled lives,  and education though expensive is paramount to them all. Our own military, we have all seen the pictures & read the stories. So many children, so many deserving cases.

David’s Ring of Fire Run:  Useful Links :

Touching The Ancient One  :  Rupert Pratt’s Web Page with useful links.

http://touchingancientone.squarespace.com/

Rediscovering the Past : An inspiring article from Stolten
Magazine about David West-Watson and his discovering his "dad."

http://touchingancientone.squarespace.com/downloads/

Anglesey “Ring of Fire” :      http://www.ringofire.co.uk/

Images of Anglesey : Some fabulous images of the Island of Anglesey.    On FaceBook

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