Douglas John Streeter. 28 April 1920 – 6 April 2011 WW2 Spitfire Mechanic, Print compositor, Photographer, Valuer, and Pilot. AKA The ‘Daffodil Man’ Doug was the elder son of Percy and Edith Streeter who ran various public houses and Hotels in Kent in the early 1900’s. Hence his school career was hampered by going to nine different schools. He still did well, and took up an apprenticeship (which Percy had to pay for!) to become a printing compositor of traditional ‘hot metal’ type in the Fleet Street area of London in the late thirties. This was inconveniently disrupted by WW2. Doug chose to sign up for the RAF rather than be conscripted, due to his love of aeroplanes. He was trained to service Spitfires and later larger bombers such as the Lancaster, serving around the UK and overseas stationed Alexandria, Egypt. He was finally sent back with sand blindness. He later served at various RAF stations including Norfolk until the end of the war. One of his last sorties was to fly over war-torn Berlin in a Lancaster just after VE day. After the war he completed his apprenticeship and then progressed into becoming a Print Valuer, and later a General company Valuer, where he often single-handedly valued large firms such as Aston Martin, North Villers Triumph and travel firm Horizon. He also in the fifties became a qualified Glider pilot, and took up photography, processing his own jumbo size prints, with a particular talent for portraiture and female nudes. His work was published photos in publications such as the Amateur Photographer. He met his wife Kay, after the war, and they got married and had one child David, and moved to the then new town of Haywards Heath buying a brand new 4 bed house for £6000 in 1963. They had many happy years there until Kay sadly died due to breast cancer shortly after their retirement to Saltdean in 1987. His younger brother - Tom, died of a stroke when coincidently visiting from the USA in the early 90’s, having emigrated there after the war. In his later life Doug had many varied interests, including stage manager for a local theatre group, stewardship of the Grange and Brighton Pavilion, and writing a weekly Saltdean column for The Argus where he was also featured for both his hat collection and as the ‘Daffodil Man’ regarding his activities on the prom giving away dafs (mostly to pretty ladies!) every Easter Sunday. He was active into his seventies, biking along the seafront, or cutting a dashing figure on the prom dressed in trademark stripped blazer, boater and silver topped cane. At 75 he even had a bash at his son’s favourite sport of skiing. However, on the last run at the dry slope an awkward fall left him needing a hip replacement. However, a major stroke in 2002, curtailed all this. He did recover well physically though, having been an avid believer in homeopathic remedies, and looked after himself for a further 5 years, when was he moved to sheltered accommodation also in Saltdean, and later after a brief spell in a local rest home, he moved in with his son David and partner Lucy in Hove, where he had a happy time for nearly two years. He died of a chest infection just a few days before his 91st birthday.