Obituary: William Davidson, war hero and banker, 86

From the battleship to the boardroom, William Davidson was in his element at the heart of the action.

The Musselburgh man, who died aged 86 on March 19 in Edinburgh, was a decorated war hero, a successful banker and a hugely popular figure among the business community.

Mr Davidson started at Musselburgh Grammar School in 1930. The friendships he forged there, his love of rugby and his flair for the piano would stay with him for the rest of his life.

Aged 15, he became fascinated by the RAF's heroics in the Battle of Britain, but it was through the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) that Mr Davidson's war took shape.

Having left school to work for the National Bank of Scotland - later the Royal Bank - he was already climbing up the ranks when the RNVR called him up.

There he trained as a landing craft specialist and, after a few years, found himself steering on to the Normandy beaches for the pivotal D-Day assault.

Even as the fighting drew to a close in Europe, Mr Davidson went to the Far East with the Special Forces branch of Combined Operations. His time there was bookended by two particularly daring missions. In the first, the liberation of Rangoon saw him take over from his ailing captain to guide an eight-man landing craft up the Irrawaddy and extract his fellow troops from behind enemy lines.

He was to sail through treacherous conditions once again when France invaded Vietnam, his ship ploughing on through heavy fire as it carried French SAS soldiers into enemy strongholds on the Mekong Delta. He was awarded The Croix de Guerre for his "calm courage and total disregard for danger".

The war won, Mr Davidson picked up where he had left off at the bank. He and his co-workers used to gather in a local tea room after work, and it was there that he met Yvonne.

The pair married at St Cuthbert's Church in 1951 and moved to Colinton Mains when Mr Davidson stepped up to the Morningside branch.

Over the next two decades, a steady rise through the organisation brought him to the RBS head office in 1970.

Mr Davidson was soon detailed to the Aberdeen office, where he landed deals with giants of the oil boom such as BP, Total and Bracewell & Paterson. The tools of his trade were the office's opulent top-floor dining room and the second largest expense account in the company, with which he developed a reputation for having a golden touch.

In 1979 he returned to the Edinburgh HQ as manager of business development and retired six years later at the age of 60. He then spent 20 years running his own consultancy, and his lunches at the New Club became known as a highlight in the business calendar.

Following his eventual retirement, he filled his last years with trips to watch the Edinburgh Wanderers and frequent visits to Luca's cafe in Musselburgh to catch up with school friends.

He is survived by his wife Yvonne.