Douglas Watson Newall obituary

Douglas Newall died at Oamaru on February 7th at the age of 55 years and at that time had been a member of the staff of Waitaki Boys' High School for the past 11 years.

Coming to Lincoln from Timaru Boys' High School he enjoyed his student days and completed the M.Agr. Sc. degree with a thesis on sorrell poisoning in sheep, the experimental work being initiated under the late Dr M. C. Franklin. He then joined the Department of Agriculture in Wellington but early in 1940 he joined the R.N.Z.A.F. completing his training in Canada as navigator. He was commissioned in the R.A.F. and during 1942 he was engaged in over 30 bombing missions over Europe. He was said to have had superb skill as a navigator and bomb aimer and as a result was awarded the D.F.C. In 1943 he was transferred to the Pacific and was a member of the crew of Wing Commander F. J. Lucas, now of Cecil Peak, Wakatipu. Later he was an instructor for the R.N.Z.A.F. in Fiji. After the war he was in business in Southland for some years until he decided to take up teaching and his career at Waitaki was preceded by a year's training at Teachers' College, Christchurch. His work at Waitaki was appreciated and in the community he was active in R.S.A. affairs. In 1941 he married Carmel Smith, Prebbleton, and he is survived by his wife, three sons and two daughters.