in 1982, by which time it had become the Nationwide Building Society. Williams became the best-known and most widely quoted spokesman for the building societies movement as deputy chairman, then chairman, of the Building Societies Association (BSA) from 1977 to 1981. He had the uncomfortable task of presiding over the BSA's decision to introduce the highest ever mortgage rate – 15 per cent – but at the same time he was an advocate of dismantling the building society interest rate cartel and the recommended mortgage rate system. In 1986, the Nationwide became the first society to take advantage of the opportunities opened up by the 1986 Building Societies Act to broaden out into banking services. The same year the society, by then the third biggest in the league, merged with the seventh largest society, Anglia. Williams served as chairman, then president, of the Nationwide Anglia until 1992. Among other appointments, he served as chairman of BUPA from 1988 to 1990. Under his leadership, Nationwide supported air tattoos and the RAF Benevolent Fund. Moreover, Williams was a life member of the RAF Club, of which he also served as a vice-chairman. Discovery and excavation of Spitfire crash site The remains of Williams' Spitfire were recovered in Galciana, Tuscany in late 2002. The aircraft was identified as an LF Mk.IX, s/n MH 768, equipped with a Merlin 66 engine and delivered on 19 September 1943 to 39 Maintenance Unit. On 24 October 1943 it was loaded onto SS Charlton Hall and shipped to Casablanca, where it arrived the following 17 November. On 30 November it was assigned to 218 Group and employed on tactical reconnaissance missions in North Africa. From 28 September 1944 it was allotted to 225 Squadron operating from Peretola airfield. On 23 October 1944 it was shot down by Flak and abandoned by the pilot. It received Category E damage and subsequently it was stricken off register. The serial number also proved to be decisive in tracking down the pilot, who was able to return to the town exactly 59 years after the crash. To this day, the wreckage of Spitfire MH 768 is on display in the Gothic Line Museum in Montemurlo. References Bibliography RAF News, 14 November 2003. Intercom, Spring 2004. External links Obituary. The Telegraph. Retrieved 2010-07-31. Obituary. The Sunday Times. Retrieved 2010-07-31. A scale model of Spitfire LF Mk.IX MH 768 Home page of Gruppo