7:40am Saturday 10th January 2009
By Kevin Barnes
Tributes have been paid to a veteran peace campaigner whose placards were a familiar sight in Carshalton for several decades.
Richard Crump, 85, known for his distinctive long white beard, died of a heart infection on Boxing Day after devoting his retirement to advancing democracy.
The former sailor was among a group of activists who travelled to Baghdad in 1991 to form a peace camp during the first Gulf War.
He later demonstrated against UN sanctions imposed on Iraq, maintaining a weekly vigil outside the Home Office for 11 years.
It was not only violent conflict that prompted Richard to uphold the important British tradition of demonstrating peacefully.
An active member of Sutton Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, he also camped outside a Ministry of Defence base thirty years ago.
This week Milan Rai, a writer and close friend, said: “Richard was a rare, independent spirit who was unforgettable to everyone who encountered him. He showed an extraordinary commitment to confronting what he saw as the great evils of the day.”
Another friend, George Dodd, from Cheam, said: “Over the past 30 years Richard has campaigned against the many injustices in this imperfect world of ours.
“Richard was always prepared to do whatever he thought was necessary to further the cause for peace. He served in the Second World War with the Merchant Navy and always maintained that he was not a pacifist.”
“He was well read and informed on a wide range of topics, with a wry sense of humour, and it was always a great pleasure to meet and chat to him.”
Richard had moved recently from the Salisbury Road flat he occupied for 50 years to a care home in Hastings, East Sussex, because of failing health.
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