Biography

Dr Deric Daniel Waters (well-known as Dan Waters) was born in Norwich, England in 1920.

He fought in the Second World War as a Desert Rat with the Eight Army in the famous combat in North African deserts and later fought with the American Fifth Army in Salerno and Anzio, Italy. He was mentioned in Despatches and wounded three times. After hostilities ceased he rejoined the family building business established by his great-grandfather in 1853. Much of the work was related to the restoration of ancient buildings such as churches. He later became the managing director of the company and taught building science at Norwich City College at the same time.

Dr Deric Daniel Waters joined the Colonial Office of Britain and set sail to Hong Kong in 1954. He taught building technology and the related subjects in the Hong Kong Technical College that has since become The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He was made the Principal of the Morrison Hill Technical Institute in 1969 and transferred to the Government Education Department Headquarters in 1972 for planning and administration. He went on leave pending retirement from the Government in 1980.

During the 1980s up to the present, he has written many papers for the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch including the stories about CSM John Osborn VC, "Hong Kong Hongs with Long Histories and British Connections", "Foreigners and Fung Shui", "Chinese Funerals",etc. He has also published his works through other mediums.