In the newsreel world, unless you are filming a major event, where there area number of assigned position, immediately you go out of the office door you are on your own. You make your way out to the location suss out what¹s it all about, decide how you are going to cover the event, set up your camera, shoot how and when and where you decide, get your exposed negative back to the laboratories, make your way back to the office to write a report (dope sheet) on what you have shot, and then wait and prepare for your next assignment. The staple die of cinema newsreel cameramen was sporting events as well as royal occasions, disasters, fashion shows, beauty contests and many more subjects. David had the opportunity in meeting a  varied  bunch of people from all walks of life as well as royalty, covered many state occasions,, including: Princess Elizabeth’s Wedding and Coronation, The Marriages of Princess Margaret, Princess Alexandra, Princess Anne and Charles to Diana. One of the more vivid memories as his coverage of the funeral of Sir Winston Churchill. It was like no other he had covered before, it was more like a state Funeral.

David had the knack of being in the right place at the right time when it came to disasters, he would modestly put it down to common sense associated with a little luck.  One such disaster was the sinking of  The Flying Enterprise of the UK Cornish Coast. Captain Carlson refused to abandon his ship, carrying a cargo of pig iron, until the very last moment. This was a big story at the time with the media hailing Carlson as a hero. David was the only cameraman to have captured the sinking of the Enterprise with the 90 foot of film left in his Newman and Sinclair camera. His competitors failed to bring home the story.  Their cameras had either jammed or had run out of film at the crucial moment. Several decades later it was revealed in a documentary film mad about ‘The Flying Enterprise’, that Captain Carlson was, in fact, carrying a cargo on nuclear weapon part destined for the U.S.A. Other disasters included the John Derry air crash at the Farnborough Air Show where his exploding aircraft killed more than 40 people. David was on the scene by accident, having filmed sequences earlier that week.  The editor decided to send David back to capture more crowd scenes. He returned to Farnborough on the public’s admission day. He heard the crowd gasp, which prompted him to swing his camera skywards to capture the aircraft exploding. Another memorable aeronautical occasion was when David talked his way into flying with the Red Arrows Aerobatic Team.  He was to fly in the last aircraft referred to as ‘Tail End Charlie’. From this position, he would be able to capture, in close up, the after burners of the aircraft ahead of him and tight formation shots, while operating a heavy 35mm camera .  This was not easy, mainly due to the size of the camera and the problems of gravitational pull. Pulling some 7G, David overcame this problem and came home with spectacular footage.