David Peter Lafayette Hunter

Lieutenant-Colonel David Peter Lafayette Hunter MC (24 November 1919 – 5 September 2001) was a Royal Marines officer who was prisoner of war captive in Colditz Castle during the Second World War. He later served as the commanding officer of 40 Commando, and was a recipient of the Military Cross.

Early life David Peter Lafayette Hunter was born at Minnis Hall, Stelling Minnis, Kent on 24 November 1919. He was the third son of Major Edgar Lafayette Hunter MC and Dorothy Thompson.

He was educated at Shrewsbury. On 2 Feb 1940 he was made probationary Lieutenant. He was posted to the heavy cruiser Hunter was redeployed to Chatham, where he was selected for the Calais force as part of the BEF.

Calais Hunter was part of Captain Darby Courtice's company of 85 Royal Marines which landed at Calais shortly after midnight on 25 May 1940. With one other officer, Lt Hugh Bruce, they were charged with helping French marines to defend the ancient citadel at the centre of the town. There they were attacked by the full might of XIX Panzer Corps and, by early evening, were surrounded and out of ammunition.

Hunter was later mentioned in dispatches for his "courage and devotion to duty" in racing up and down the beach to keep his unit's machine gun supplied with ammunition. They had fought with such vigor that the official German record read, "The enemy gives the impression of being fresh, and seems to have received reinforcements after two days of heavy fighting." On 7 April 1942 Hunter, Bruce and 10 other officers made their escape.

After 12 days on the run, Bruce and Hunter were captured near Flensburg, within a few hundred yards of the Danish border. After a brief spell back at Sandbostel, the pair escaped, this time by jumping aboard a prison lorry, but were recaptured at Hamburg railway station by the German police. He was promoted to major on 14 January 1955. In 1956 he became Amphibious Staff officer, 3 Commando Brigade at Suez.

There followed postings to the RN Staff College, Greenwich, and at Amphibious Warfare HQ, London, followed by a six-month Joint Training Course with the US Marines in San Diego. and he took command of 40 Commando until 1963. Based in Singapore, he was frequently employed in Borneo during the confrontation with the Indonesians following the Brunei Revolt of 1962.

Civilian life Hunter married WAAF officer, Barbara Lewis, They had two sons.

Following his retirement from the Marines, Hunter and his family emigrated to Freeport, Bahamas. In 1967 Hunter joined the real estate company of McPherson & Brown.

Barbara died in 1971 and, in 1974 Hunter subsequently remarried to Suzanne Twiston-Davies, a journalist with the BBC.

In 1981, he and colleague, Hilary Jones, bought McPherson & Brown, changing its name to Churchill & Jones. In 1997 Hunter led Churchill & Jones into obtaining the franchise for the Northern Bahamas of RE/MAX, the international real estate conglomerate.

David Peter Lafayette Hunter died at the age of 81 on 5 September 2001.