Ray Daniels

Lieutenant-Colonel Ray Daniels MC (15 July 1923 – 27 April 2003) was awarded the Military Cross for his ‘exemplary actions during fierce fighting’ at the Battle of Cloppenburg in 1945, played rugby for Wasps RFC after World War II and later became Chief Executive of the William Press Group that he led to become a FTSE 100 company in the mid-1970s and early 1980s.

Early years

Raymond Alfred Daniels was born on 15 July 1923 at Pinner, Middlesex and educated at Bedford Modern School.

On 9 September Daniels entered a liberated Brussels with 7 Hampshires and fought with the Battalion in a succession of actions including Operation Market Garden and the Battle of Reichswald. At Cloppenburg, their final battle, the Battalion lost many men but took a heavy toll of the enemy.

He served with the Engineer and Logistic Staff Corps RE for many years before retiring in 1997 as Lieutenant-Colonel.

Personal life

Ray Daniels married Helen Clark in 1954 and they had three sons. He died on 27 April 2003.