Leeds Parish Church became more important in the family’s lives when son Ken also joined the choir. Peter and Kathleen moved to Alcester in 2010 to be near their family, but Peter had to start dialysis in 2011 and was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, a rare disease where the auto-immune system attacks the muscles, in summer 2012. He leaves his widow, Kathleen, and son, Ken, who contributed significantly to this obituary.
a teacher, married in 1969, and lived in Muswell Hill, north London, where they raised three daughters and were later joined by Leslie’s parents. He read widely and wrote poetry throughout his life, also pursuing many interests, including youth leadership, Hindu iconography, modern history, fossils, insects and music. In retirement, he centred his life at home with his dog, and remained devoted to his family, becoming a grandfather in 2005. He died at home surrounded by his family. Peter Holway came to Dulwich from The Grange School in Beckenham, but his education was disrupted by the Second World War. He was called up by the RAF when he became 18 in 1943 and trained as a wireless operator. He went on to become a special duties wireless operator for Bomber Command and flew 30 sorties in Lancaster bombers over occupied Europe when he was still only 19, operating Airborne Cigar apparatus. After the war ended, he did further work for the RAF as an Airfield Controller until he was finally demobbed in February 1947. In later life, he was re-united with the surviving members of his wartime crew via the 101 Squadron Association. In the late 1940s Peter met his wife, Kathleen, who had also been born in the same Beckenham maternity home, and they were married on 2 June 1951 at St George’s Church, Beckenham, which was also the church in which they had both been christened. After leaving the RAF, he spent all his working life in logistics for the petroleum industry, mostly with Petrofina in London, then Gunness (near Scunthorpe) and in Leeds. A lifelong cricket fan, he always remembered going to the Kennington Oval with his father in 1930 to see Donald Bradman play when he and Bill Ponsford scored 451 in a second-wicket partnership as Australia amassed 701. He also went to see Chelsea play football and was keen on rugby union, especially the home internationals. With Petrofina, he umpired for the company cricket team for many years. When he moved to Leeds with his family, Peter rekindled his love of music, joining the Leeds Triennial Festival Chorus and later the Leeds Parish Church Choir as a bass singer. He also loved listening to music, attending concerts at Leeds Town Hall and listening to the radio and to records. Also in Leeds, the family discovered the Yorkshire Dales, and had family trips to Wharfedale, Wensleydale and even to the North York Moors. Peter William Holway (1938-40) 24.01.1925 – 17.10.2012
Brigadier Anthony Hunter-Choat (1947-52) 12.01.1936 – 12.04.2012
Anthony Hunter-Choat came to the College from the Prep and was in the Scouts while at Dulwich. He went on to Kingston College of Art to train as an architect, but used his holidays
to hitchhike around Europe, developing a taste for travel and an ability with foreign languages. In 1957 he decided that his future did not lie in architecture and indulged his love of adventure by heading to Paris to join the French Foreign Legion. He was pursued by his mother, who was keen to get her errant son back to his architecture studies, but by the time she found him he had already signed up. He was sent to Algeria for basic training, but volunteered for the extra training needed to become a paratrooper. The anti-colonialist insurrection in Algeria developed into the Algerian War of Independence and he spent nearly five years in Algeria in all. He was awarded three Cross of Valour medals and the Medaille Militaire while with the Foreign Legion. When it became clear that Paris was about to negotiate independence for Algeria, four retired French generals decided to oust the French President, Charles de Gaulle, by seizing control of Algiers first, before moving on to mainland France and Paris. The commander of his Foreign Legion battalion agreed to take part in the coup plot and on the night of 21/22 April 1961, Hunter-Choat was part of the plotter’s group which occupied key locations in Algiers. After broadcasting a message that ‘The Army has seized control’ on 22 April, the following day, de Gaulle appeared on television calling for soldiers to back him. Support for the coup collapsed and his battalion of the Foreign Legion was disbanded. Shortly afterwards, his five-year term of service ended and he returned to the UK. His father encouraged him to join the British Army but his initial application was rejected because he was considered too old. After a letter from his father, the War Office decided to make
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