Deric Daniel Waters: A ‘remarkably fit’ man who laid the groundwork for Hong Kong Polytechnic University
A ‘natural leader and inspiration’ who became a black belt in karate at 57 and started running marathons in his 60s
Deric Daniel Waters was born in November 1920 in the east county of Norfolk in England after his father returned from the first world war.
An avid gymnast, he would describe climbing to the top of a large walnut tree in the centre of the market town of Watton, where he grew up, to poke a British flag out of the top to mark King George V’s jubilee in 1935.
Waters had a younger sister, Olga, and the family ran a construction firm set up in 1853. In the late 1930s he volunteered to go to war.
Waters was shipped to North Africa, a “Desert Rat” in the 8th Army for the second battle at El Alamein under Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery against the German and Italian armies. He later fought at the Battle of Salerno in southern Italy.
Waters was injured three times due to landmines and retained metal in his body from the shrapnel, which used to confuse X-ray technicians in more recent years. He was mentioned in despatches.
Waters met his first wife in Italy and their son, Barry, was born in 1946. He later applied to the Colonial Service, and arrived in Hong Kong in 1954.