David Nicolson was born in Scotland and then later moved to WA. He graduated in Electrical Engineering from UWA studying electronics. He set up his own electronics company and was in the Naval Reserve and has retained his interest in naval ships. He has been involved with the HMAS Perh Memorial Foundation since 2019. HMAS Perth was a sister ship to HMAS Sydney and HMSs Ajax and Achilles. The Ajax and the Achilles were involved together with the Exeter in the Battle of the River Plate which saw the German Pocket Battleship “Graf Spe” eventually scuttled in Montevideo. Perth was considered a “lucky ship” having mostly managed to avoid damage in the Mediterranean. She was damaged in the Battle of the Java Sea and then sunk by the Japanese in the Sunda Strait along with the USS Houston. From the Perth, 353 of the crew were killed in action, 106 died as POWs and 218 eventually returned home in a very emaciated state. Some of the survivors even suffered further sinkings while being transported to Japan. The memorial to the ship and her crew is now complete and is located in Riverside Road, East Fremantle - adjacent to the Swan Yacht Club. It comprises a Wall of Remembrance with the names of the whole crew inscribed. In front of that is a plinth with a replica of the ship’s propeller. The main part of the memorial comprises a Ship’s Bow which is formed with double sheet glass walls with a translucent montage sandwiched in the middle. Much of the cost was met by BAe Systems. None of this would have been achieved without the many volunteers who were involved. Of interest to those living in the Town of Cambridge is that the ship’s motto was “Floreat” which when translated from the latin is “Let her Flourish”. Another curiosity was that the ship had a cat called “Red Paws”. This name stemmed from one of the cat’s misadventures when it managed to get red paint on its paws and then left red paw marks all over the ship.