Obituaries
moving to St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London to study Medicine. After qualifying as a doctor in 1940, he became a house surgeon at Hallam Street Hospital in the West Bromwich area of Birmingham, and was also involved with the Civil Defence service in Birmingham. On being awarded MRCS and LRCP qualifications in 1942, he moved to become Deputy Medical Officer of Health in the Borough of Willesden in northwest London, and was also the Civil Defence Medical Officer for the County of Middlesex, of which Willesden was a part. Civil Defence work was mostly quiet in 1943 but became much busier in 1944, especially after the D-Day landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944. V1 and later V2 flying bombs inflicted much damage and many casualties in London day and night and led to 1944 being called the ‘Doodlebug summer’ in London. On one occasion, he was called to a house which had been hit by a V1 bomb and found a badly injured woman trapped in the wreckage, with the arms of a chair preventing her from being crushed by several large beams. While attempting to extricate her, the rescuers had to dig a tunnel under a party wall that was itself about to crumble under the weight of the ruins of the building. John had started carrying the new powdered blood plasma with him while on duty, which then was usually used only in hospitals. Practical experience had shown him that it was often a casualty’s heart that gave out during rescues and restoring liquid to the veins could ease the strain. On arriving at the bomb site he saw that freeing the woman would take some time and realised that her heart was failing. Also, coal gas, which was deadly because of its carbon monoxide content, was leaking into the unstable rescue tunnel. Despite this, he retained his nerve and concentration and connected the casualty to the tubes and bottles of his primitive but life-saving solution to effect a blood transfusion. The coal gas was affecting everyone working in the tunnel and the rescuers were relieved from time to time, but John remained with his casualty for 90 minutes, although a fall of debris occurred just as the plasma bottles were being changed. Eventually, the casualty was extricated and brought through the tunnel on a stretcher with the plasma bottle still in position. He was awarded the George Medal for this rescue, which was presented to him by King George VI at Buckingham Palace on 8 May 1945, which was also VE Day. The lengthy citation for his George Medal ended: ‘Dr Beeston showed courage without regard for the dangerous load above and the presence of coal gas. His skill, applied as it was on the spot, undoubtedly saved the life of the woman.’ After the war, he was visiting the United States in 1947, when he met a fellow doctor who introduced him to the campus at the University of California, and once back in England he was offered a one-year appointment at UCLA to teach a course in infectious diseases. He accepted the appointment and liked America so much that he remained there. By 1967 he was Clinical Professor of Preventive Medicine at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, as well as director of the Cleveland
Health Museum. Also in 1967, he published his essay, Educating the Public: A Multi-Media Approach. In the late 1970s he moved to the University of Southern California (USC), a private research establishment where he also served as chairman of a task force on student financial aid. In 1984 he received the Distinguished Career Award from the American Public Health Association and, a decade later, his contribution to cancer research and control won him the American Cancer Society’s St George Gold Medal. At the time of his death he was still Emeritus Professor of Medicine at USC. An obituary was published in The Daily Telegraph, on which this obituary is based. A more detailed account of the award presentation on VE Day, written by John Beeston himself, appeared in the Dulwich Yearbook and Alleyn Club Newsletter , Number 40, published in 1999. In his will he bequeathed his George Medal to the College. The medal was presented to the College on 9 November 2013. Christopher Aaron Chai (2008-13) 05.08.1995 – 08.11.2013 Christopher Chai came to the College from the Prep, where he had already established strong and warm friendships and he is recalled with great affection. He was a talented artist who was a particularly gifted draughtsman, with a keen eye for detail and delicate line drawing. Although he chose not to study Art to A level, he always cared about the presentation of his work. While at the College, he was a loyal member of Sidney, notably running the House cross-country race in both of his Upper School years. He studied Biology, Chemistry and French to A level and was awarded his School Colours and the Dulwich Diploma. He was a proud member of the College, unfailingly punctual, and wearing his Dulwich school uniform immaculately. He gave tours to prospective pupils and their parents, and gave his time freely to younger boys, helping members of the Lower School improve their French grammar in French Club, and reading to children in DUCKS, the College kindergarten. After completing his A levels, Christopher went to the University of Surrey to study Biological Sciences, where he died during his first term. Reginald Charles Colman OBE (Assistant Master 1956-69) 05.04.1926 – 11.09.2013 Reg Colman was born an only child in Croydon and
attended Whitgift School until the family home was bombed in 1939, when they moved house to Exmouth in Devon and Reg went to Exmouth Grammar School and was their Head Boy in his final year, 1943-44. It was at school that he met Marjorie
Hooper, his future wife of 65 years, who was Head Girl at the same school. After leaving school in wartime, he joined the RAF but was still training as a pilot when the war ended and he soon transferred to the Royal Navy
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