David Anton: aviation doctor who investigated air crashes and became the first occupational physician with the RNLI

David Anton, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution’s first consultant occupational physician, who investigated multiple high profile aeroplane crashes and was a consultant to the US navy and air force, has died at his home at the age of 75.

David Anton was born in London to Tony Anton, a solicitor, and Vera (née Dobson). He was educated at Strode’s School, Egham, and Solihull School, along with his three younger brothers. His lifelong interest in mountains and the outdoors was sparked by an inspirational teacher who had the class follow the progress of John Hunt’s successful Everest expedition, building a model of the mountain and studying the climbers and their equipment. During Anton’s life, he travelled to many of the world’s great mountain ranges, including Everest base camp, and studied the physiology of survival. He adored his formidable but affable grandfather, Harry Dobson, a retired Grenadier Guard who had fought and been wounded at Ypres. A Yeoman of the Guard, Dobson lived for the rest of his life in a flat at St James’s Palace. As a child, Anton’s parents took him to the Farnborough Air Show, which made a great impression and influenced his career path.

Anton summed this up on his blog in 2019: “I have always been interested in why things go wrong and the physical and mental consequences that follow. I suppose it started when I was a boy. My parents took me to the Farnborough Air Show from a very young age, but we missed the day when John Derry crashed into the crowd, killing 31 people. The aircraft fell where we used to sit. Had we been there we would have …