I then enquired about engineering apprenticeships in the armed forces (was this to be my second major mistake?) In January 1955 after successfully negotiating an entrance exam and a medical (cough please), I duly embarked on a career as a vehicle engineer after successfully completing a 3 year engineering apprenticeship at the Army Apprentice College, Chepstow.

This was a good all-round engineering grounding covering not only vehicle design, repair and maintenance but also more general subjects such as blacksmithing, welding, machining and sheet metal work. Lady fortune then took a hand in my career. In 1958 the Army Air Corps was being formed from the old Air Observation Post (AOP) squadrons whose engineering support was being provided by the RAF. In future this would be an Army responsibility, in particular that of the Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers (REME) into which I had just graduated. The top 15 of my course were offered the opportunity of becoming Aircraft Engineers. Twelve of us accepted (I think it was the lure of the distinctive light blue beret that did it.)
So, off to Middle Wallop for a 10 (yes, that is ten) week conversion course learning all about aircraft construction, the theory of flight etc and in particular about the 'Auster Mk 9 light reconnaissance aircraft'. At the end of the 10 weeks I passed a trade test and was duly qualified as an Aircraft Engineer Class III, being qualified to work on ALL aircraft systems: airframe, engine, electrics and radio (5 trades!). I then did a manufacturer's course at Saunders Roe in Southampton on the 'Skeeter' helicopter.

My first posting was a 3 year stint in Malaya/Singapore. I went out a green, wet-behind-the-ears sprog and came back older and wiser. Over the next 23 years I worked on various fixed wing aircraft : Austers Mk 6,7 &9, Chipmunk and Beaver, then on the rotary winged Skeeter, Sioux, Scout, Gazelle, Lynx and Alouette. I served in Hong Kong, Brunei, Germany, Cyprus, Canada, British Guiana, Northern Ireland and all over the rest of the UK.Having completed my 23 years of service with the exalted rank of WO1 (equivalent to RSM) I was ending my service career at Middle Wallop as the Maintenance Development Engineer assessing new aircraft tools and servicing procedures. Pondering my next career as a civilian (I had been offered jobs as s Queen's Messenger, Bursar at a girls school and manager of a newsagents) when out of the blue I got a call from Tom Hussey asking if I would be interested in a job with British Aerospace.

I hotfooted it straight to Kingston for a job interview with the formidable Bud Simmonds and the more gentlemanly Gordon Jefferson and was straight away offered a position in Mods Admin under Bud, which I eagerly accepted. I started work at Kingston in January 1981, joining the Engineering Management Dept as Assistant Hawk Mods Administrator. The Mods Admin team comprised Bud Simmonds, Tom Hussey, Doug Borland and Peter Liley, all under the ever watchful eye of Peter Hickman. Tom and Doug looked after Harrier mods, Peter and myself took care of the Hawk working very closely with the Hawk Project Manager, Chris Farara.

Three years later I was promoted to Head of Airworthiness Engineering, under the wing of Peter Hickman, when Jack Mills retired in 1984. The then Airworthiness Section, not the much larger Department it became later, was responsible for all aspects of Harrier and Hawk certification evolving from the Form 94 to the present day DACPA. Over the years a number of ex Army Air Corps people joined the Company: Tom Hussey, Gordon Robb, Keith Frost-Bridges, George Southern (RPO) and Rob Welch. Through to my retirement from BAES in May '04 I worked with Barry Pegram, Alan Woolley and finally, for a few brief months, Martin Beard, the present Chief Airworthiness Engineer. I can look back on almost 50 years of uninterrupted employment around aircraft, starting as a spanner bender in the Army Air Corps and finishing as a pen pusher with British Aerospace (no apologies, that's how I still think of the Company). I have fully enjoyed both phases... and now intend to fully enjoy my retirement!