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I joined the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Television Service as a Junior Maintenance Engineer in Feb 1938. I reported to Douglas Birkingshaw the Engineer in Charge. He welcomed me and said two important things; firstly- television had an uncertain future! Secondly, as I was a new junior, in the event of war I would be Category C. In due course I gathered the meaning of Category C. It meant other senior engineers would go to Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú station war time posts when war was declared. Cat C staff were expected to join the forces; they would get their pay made up to Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú salary if the war pay was less. If the pay was more, they had to send Pension Fund monies to the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú!

On Friday September 1st, Prime Minister Chamberlain warned Hitler that war would be declared on Sunday 3rd if Hitler did not retreat from Poland. The consequence of this was all senior engineers left Alexandra Palace on Friday 1st. The TV shift at the time was Mon, Tues, Thurs, Sat, Sun which I was on. The other shift was Weds and Fri. So on Saturday 2nd Sept I reported for duty to find only a few Cat C members of staff reporting for duty, no senior staff and no instructions! So we talked and agreed to keep in touch whilst deciding which arm of the forces to join. I think it was Victor Perry who told me 6thA.A DIV.RAOC Territorial Workshop had 3 Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú officers and wanted recruits suitable for secret radar work. So about six or so signed on I remember Perry, Murray, Griffiths, Cartwright and myself. After joining and parading we met the 3 engineering officers Lewis, Shone and Salt. I remember marching round Sidcup in Army uniform but in a civilian overcoat! We were accommodated and fed in local houses. After 6 weeks we moved into the TA base eating in a marquee and sleeping on the floor on pallias. After 3 weeks or so the sergeant asked for 6 volunteers. None came forward, so 6 were detailed, I was unfortunately one! The hay trap in the cess pit food waste system had failed and a 6 foot deep pit had to be cleaned. I began to wonder why I volunteered as I had qualifications to be an officer… At this time there was an unusual request, possibly from the War Office for the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú other ranks to be attached to Woolwich Arsenal for special duties! We were in married quarter houses on Woolwich common. The special duties were to reorganise the civilian workshops and Ordnance stores in anticipation of a move to a new site at Greenford. Woolwich needed re-organising, it was pitiful the bookkeeping bore no resemblance to holdings! I had now applied for a commission and early in 1940 was commissioned a 1st Lieutenant RAOC Eng.

After a short break acquiring uniform I was posted to a six month course at the Military College of Science now evacuated to Lydd on the Kent coast! Within a month or so the Germans were ‘gunning’ their way up the channel across the water so the College was re-evacuated to Bury Technical College, Lancs!

Regretably in the September whilst at Bury, raids went on in London and my in-laws were killed in a poorly designed garden shelter. The 8 foot squared brick wall had a 1 foot thick concrete roof and the side blast of a land mine removed the walls and the roof fell in! This was later followed by my own parents house being destroyed and my finding them a house at Harrow.

I did well on the course of six officer and after a month’ military training at Leicester was posted via Woolwich workshops (1 month) to become a staff captain in branch OS21 Ordnance Directorate, Golden Cross House, War Office. This branch was responsible for all aspects of repair and maintenance of army equipment, in my case Radar Wireless and Line Equipment. During 1940 the evacuation of France resulted in the need to reorganise a poorly oranised army workshop set up. A new Corp was to be formed REME, a new General appointed from civilian life, General Bruce chief engineer from London Passenger Transport Board- a civilian one day, next day a General!

My understanding of General Bruce’s remit was to transfer all suitable technical personnel from other units to REME, which was in accordance with General Weeks, deputy Chief of Imperial General Staff requirements. I was required to do this with Royal Signal Staff but experienced difficulty with first line maintenance staff. At the time, the REME was formed, these difficulties were never completely resolved and as a result and to my dismay, General Bruce walked out of the War Office back to civilian life at LPTB!

On the formation of REME the War Office Directorate consisted of 10 branches. The Director was General Rowcroft. The telecommunications branch consisted of 3 sub branches- Radar, Wireless and Line equipment. Each sub branch had a Major and 3 or 4 staff captains. I was the major in charge of all wireless equipment in service. At the end of the war I was promoted to Lt Colonel in charge of the branch.

The branch was responsible for organising the selection of all workshop equipment all maintenance and repair instructions of all wireless and signal equipment used by the army, all modifications and liasing with research and manufacturers to ensure the maintenance aspect of design was fully satisfied, all very interesting.

As officers once a month we had to roof watch for fire bombs. Every Monday we had to operate in the office with gas masks on!

Life could be stressful as for example when Montgomery wanted to launch his North African offensive and all his tank wireless sets required new capacitors because they could not take desert heat! It was also disturbing to sit in the office and watch a V1 approaching up the Thames and hear the engine cut out!

On the formulation of the new corp many of the army’s maintenance problems were resolved. At about this time Churchill set up the Sir Phillip-Joubert Committee to look into the question of all 3 services. In the early part of the war, General Pile had recruited graduates direct and used them for maintenance of radar in AA command. This was resolved on formation of REME and the Joubert findings.

Towards the end of the war when we started to take France and Germany I made some staff visits to these places.

At this late stage of the war, February 1945 my brother who had completed one tour of 30 flights was persuaded by his crew to return to flying. Regrettably he was shot down after 5 more flights.

I returned to the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú at Alexandra Palace in 1946 and moved to head office EEO’s Department where I met my second wife who was my secretary. I became Engineering Recruitment Officer 1948 and Research Executive, Kingswood Warren in 1950. I retired in 1976.

My wife served in WRNS mainly in the Orkney Islands. She joined the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú in 1946 and in the 50’s, moved to senior secretary in Radio Directorate.

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