Dennis Fowle (at School 1945-51) contacted the OBA on seeing the obituary for Dick Baker, who he had known at School. Dennis has sent us a further tribute to Dick Baker which we publish below:
Dick was a popular school head boy in 1950/51 but he still had plenty of time for sport. He captained a strong football 1st XI as goalkeeper. Most memorable match was against the powerful Old Boys and with time running out we were 3-2 down. But Dick’s team were fighters and in the closing minutes scored twice for an exciting victory. I was a member of Dick’s team - and soon after Dick played cricket for the 1st XI I captained. He was a wicketkeeper/batsman and helped the team to an unbeaten record against all schools. I stayed in touch with Dick and followed the drama of his role as British diplomatic number 2 to the Governor Sir Rex Hunt in the Falklands at the time of the 1982 Argentinian invasion. Dick was chief secretary in Government House, Stanley, at the brief time the invaders were in control. He walked from the house bearing a home-made white flag to seek with the military chiefs a cease fire. He was not successful and Sir Rex and Dick were ordered to leave the island - soon to return after the British victory.
Dick made many friends among leaders of the Falklands community and, years later, when he learned my wife and I would be visiting Stanley for the day during a cruise to the Antarctic, he hurriedly made contact with his friends and we met three. We were entertained by one at his home for more than hour and heard the dramatic local war stories. We also met Dick ‘s chauffeur who was very excited to hear news of his old boss. Thank you Dick. What a highlight of this 2013 holiday