Edward Downes Edward Downes Sir Edward Thomas ("Ted") Downes, CBE (17 June 1924 – 10 July 2009) was an English conductor, specialising in opera. He was associated with the Royal Opera House from 1952, and with Opera Australia from 1970. He was also well known for his long working relationship with the BBC Philharmonic and for working with the Netherlands Radio Orchestra. Within the field of opera, he was particularly known as a conductor of Verdi. He and his wife, Lady (Joan) Downes, committed assisted suicide at the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland on 10 July 2009, an event that received significant media
Rupert Downes Australian service personnel on board. Their bodies were recovered and buried in Cairns War Cemetery with full military honours. Downes was survived by Doris, Valerie and Rosemary. A memorial service was held at St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne on 9 March 1945. He became the third most senior Australian officer to die in the Second World War, after General Sir Brudenell White, who died in the Canberra air disaster in 1940, and Lieutenant General Henry Wynter, who died on 7 February 1945. Downes' papers are in the Australian War Memorial. The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons established the triennial Rupert Downes