Sir David Orr RIP

Kyt · Mar 11, 2008

War veteran and captain of London Irish who went on to become chairman of Unilever whose fortunes flourished under his leadership

Sir David Orr obituary - Times Online

During the war he enlisted in the Royal Ulster Rifles and was commissioned into the Royal Engineers. He served with Queen Victoria’s Own Madras Sappers and Miners during the campaign in Burma against the Japanese and was twice decorated with the Military Cross for acts of exceptional gallantry. The first occasion was during the advance of 255 Indian Tank Brigade west of Meiktila in February 1945. Ordered to clear a diversion round a blown bridge blocked by 250lb aerial bombs wired as booby traps, he stormed the foxhole where the enemy firing party had taken cover, shot the soldier at the control switch with his revolver and then led his detachment in clearing the route forward.

Two weeks later, after the enemy had closed on the Meiktila airstrip overnight and could sweep it with automatic fire, he went forward with two men of his troop to recover a soldier of the 6/15th Punjab Regiment who had been wounded. On reaching the casualty he found others near by and crossed the open ground four times to bring the injured men to safety. For this action he received a Bar to the immediate MC awarded for the February action.

When asked about his war experiences, he preferred to tell the story of how he and another Sapper officer liberated the Rangoon Golf Club.

Orr joined Unilever as a management trainee in 1948, gaining experience in Britain and the Netherlands.
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Sir David Orr RIP

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