John Davidson      MX68125      Leading Cook, Royal Navy

John Davidson was born on April 23, 1918, in Glasgow, Scotland. He completed his high school equivalent and was working as a baker at Price and Beatty’s before he signed up in the Royal Navy. He enlisted at Portsmouth on July 4, 1940, and was made a cook. He served in several different locations including the “stone frigates” HMS Victory (5 times) and HMS Royal Arthur, as well as the actual ships, HMS Queen Elizabeth (named after Elizabeth 1), HMS Lucia, and others.

His daughter, Catherine Kenny, writes, “He stated he was mostly in the Middle East area and spoke of Africa, Egypt and that he explored the Pyramids, and in India where he was witness to the walking dead which was a normal practice there. When he spoke of his time in the Navy, one of the things he often said was that he was assigned to cook for Queen Elizabeth’s Uncle (the Duke of Kent) when he was on board and at the end of his stay, he gave him a 5-pound tip (a lot of money back then). He was not cooking all the time and worked in the armament section getting shells and artillery ready for firing.”

He married Catherine Russell Steele on October 19, 1945, and was discharged the following year after the birth of their first child. Together they raised seven children: five boys and two girls. Catherine continues, “In April 1959 my parents decided to immigrate to Canada with six children (7th child born in Canada). My father was a third-generation baker, and having seven children he was always chasing the dollar and worked in numerous bakeries most of the time: full-time in Laura Secord and weekends in local Scottish Bakeries.

“Then one day he received a call from Tim Horton asking him to be his baker, as he had been highly recommended and was going to open “Tim Horton’s Donuts”. Being a Leaf Fan, he jumped at the chance and was thrilled to work for him. Unfortunately, not too many people know this but the original Tim Horton’s Donut shop, which was at Lawrence and Avenue Road, through bad management went bankrupt. My Father returned to Laura Secord. “A few years later Tim Horton contacted him again as he was opening Tim Horton’s (franchise) in Hamilton and asked my father if he would move to Hamilton (all expenses paid) but my father didn’t want to disrupt the family and turned down the offer. My parents lived at Eglinton and Kennedy above a store, when a few years later Tim Horton called again and told my father that he was going to open a Tim Horton’s in the plaza where he lived and once again asked if he would come to work for him, again he declined and not long after Tim Horton was killed.”

Leading Cook John Davidson loved to read, watch hockey and soccer, and play golf. He died September 3, 1986.

We thank him for his service.

We will remember them.