Douglas Webb DFM, (12 September 1922 – 8 December 1996) was a British photographer who worked in the

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

and television industries. He was also a veteran of the Dam Busters raid.

Early life

Webb was born in Leytonstone, London. Before the war he worked for Ilford and then as a printer with the London News Agency in

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...

World War II

During World War II he served with the Royal Air Force as an air gunner with No. 49 Squadron and

No. 617 Squadron Number 617 Squadron is a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron, originally based at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire and currently based at RAF Marham in Norfolk. It is commonly known as "''The Dambusters''", for its actions during Operation Chastise a ...

. Douglas was front gunner with the crew of the

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...

AJ'O' for Orange, piloted by William Townsend, which took part in the Dam Busters Raid. Webb was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal for his part in the operation. Five of the crew were also given medals, making them the second most decorated Dams Raid crew after Guy Gibson's. Douglas also flew on 617 Squadron's last wartime operation, an attack on Hitler's mountain lair. He was one of only two men to fly on the squadron's first and last wartime operations. Webb sold his Distinguished Flying Medal, along with his logbook on 14 March 1989 at Christie's in London to fund publishing a nude photography book of

Pamela Green Phyllis Pamela Green (28 March 1929 – 7 May 2010) was an English glamour model and actress, best known at the end of the 1950s and early 1960s. She modeled for Zoltán Glass and his brother Stephen, Horace Roye, Jean Straker, Bill Brandt, ...

. On the 75th anniversary of the Dam Busters Raid Douglas Webb was honoured with a blue plaque at 158 Richmond Road, London E11, the house where he was living when he enlisted in the RAF at the age of 18. The plaque was unveiled on Thursday 17 May 2018.

Career

After the war he rejoined the London News Agency as a staff photographer, until he was offered a contract with the Rank Organisation's Denham Studios as a stills photographer. Webb later moved to Gainsborough Pictures where he worked on his first film '' Miranda''. Webb went on to establish a successful business as a freelance photographer with his own studio in Greek Street, Soho, doing theatrical and film portraits. He first used

, his future partner, as a nude model in 1948. She was only seventeen. He later moved to larger premises in Albany Street near Regent's Park. During his career, Webb was involved in the production of photographic stills and projection transparencies for numerous films such as '' The Killing of Sister George'' (1968), ''

Perfect Friday ''Perfect Friday'' is a British bank heist film released in 1970, directed by Peter Hall. It stars Ursula Andress as Lady Britt Dorset, Stanley Baker as Mr Graham, David Warner as Lord Nicholas Dorset and T. P. McKenna as Smith. Plot Mr. Graha ...

'' (1970) and ''

Krull Krull is a surname originating from Prussian nobility. People *Alexander Krull (born 1970), German singer *Annie Krull (1876–1947), German operatic soprano *Germaine Krull (1897–1985), photographer * Hasso Krull (born 1964), Estonian po ...

'' (1983). His television credits included ''

Special Branch Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security and Intelligence (information gathering), intelligence in Policing in the United Kingdom, British, Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, ...

'', '' Van der Valk'' and ''

The Sweeney ''The Sweeney'' is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London. It stars John Thaw as Detective Ins ...

''. He was the stills photographer on the film ''

Naked as Nature Intended ''Naked as Nature Intended'' (released in the United States under the title ''As Nature Intended'') is a 1961 British nudist film produced and directed by George Harrison Marks and starring Pamela Green. It was the first film from producers Tony ...

'' in which Pamela Green starred, and in 2013 his photographs were used to illustrate the book ''Naked as Nature Intended, The Epic Tale of a Nudist Picture''. As the British film industry went into decline he moved to the Isle of Wight in 1986, where he began to catalogue the photographs of Pamela Green taken in the 1960s and '70s. The bulk of their outdoor studies were taken in Cornwall, Melton Constable in Norfolk and the Isle of Wight. In 1993 Douglas and Green moved to Yarmouth.

Published works

''Naked as Nature Intended: The Epic Tale of a Nudist Picture''. Suffolk & Watt, 2013, .

Selected filmography

* ''Krull'', 1983 * ''Gulliver's Travels'', 1977 * ''The Ghoul'', 1975 * ''Legend of the Werewolf'', 1975 * ''And Now for Something Completely Different'', 1971 * ''The Virgin and the Gypsy'', 1970 * ''The Guru'', 1969 * ''Casino Royale'', 1967 * ''The Spy with a Cold Nose'', 1966 * ''The Woman Who Wouldn't Die'', 1965 * ''The 7th Dawn'', 1964 * ''The King's Breakfast'', 1963 * ''Naked as Nature Intended'', 1961

References

Douglas Webb biography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, Douglas 1922 births 1996 deaths People from Leytonstone Photographers from London Royal Air Force airmen Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Medal