Notices

4 February 2019

We have received the following information from Peter Brisley.

Dear all,

Some of you will remember Mike Field, who suddenly passed away on 8 December.   A memorial service is being held in St. Michaels’ Church, Galleywood in the afternoon of Wednesday 13th March.  The precise time is still to be agreed.

His widow has invited any of his former colleagues to attend, so if you are so inclined, please let me know and I will pass it on.

Regards,

Peter Brisley

 

31 January 2019

We regret to report the death of Geoff Harris who joined the Company in 1948.

His funeral will be held at Chelmsford Crematorium at 10.30 am Thursday 21st February in the South Chapel.

 

28 January 2019

We regret to report the death of Douglas Hills who died on 17th January 2019.  He joined the Company in 1939.

His funeral will be held at St. Mary’s Broomfield on the 6th February at 12 o’clock.

 

23 January 2019

We regret to report the death of Vic Martin.  He died in Broomfield Hospital on 22 December 2018 aged 92.

Vic joined the Company in 1943 and after a break for National Service worked in the Company’s drawing offices in Radar Division.

His funeral will take place at the Three Counties Crematorium, High Garrett CM7 5PB (just north of Braintree) at 11:30 on the 28th January 2019.

 

23 January 2019

We regret to report the death of Ray Walls.  He joined the Company in 1946 and died in December 2018

His funeral service will be at Christ Church United Reform Church, New London Road
Chelmsford on Friday 8th February at 2:30pm.  Family flowers only please,
donations if desired to the British Heart Foundation may be sent to T.
Pennack & Sons Funeral Directors.

Ray’s cremation will be at Chelmsford Crematorium Writtle Road at 3:30pm which will be primarily a family gathering but anyone not able to make the church service is welcome.

 

22 January 2019

We regret to report the death of Michael (Mike) Machen.

Mike Machen joined Marconi’s in 1968.   He died on 24th December 2018, aged 86

His funeral service  will be on Monday 4th February at 1.30 at Chelmsford Crematorium, South Chapel, followed by a Service of Thanksgiving at 2.15 at the

Evangelical Church,
28 Grove Road
CM2 0EY

 

8 July 2018

We regret to report the death of Graham Sefton.

His funeral,will take place at Landican Cemetary CH49 5LW on the Wirral, near Arrowpark Hospital at 11am on the 23rd July. There will be a reception afterwards at Mariners Park Care home Wallasey CH44 0HN. on the banks of the Mersey.

This information came from Stan MacNally of Liverpool.

 

3 July 2018

We are sorry to report that the mathematician Bernard de Neumann, who worked at Baddow for several years, died on the 18th April 2018 at the age of 74 years.

A brief summary of his career can be found at http://marconiradarhistory.pbworks.com/w/page/39893825/Bernard%20de%20Neumann

3 July 2018

We regret to report the death of Stan Atkins on 1 July.

18 June 2018

We regret to report  the death of Arnold Clegg the age of 89.  He was a lecturer at Marconi College for many years.

His funeral took place at Chelmsford Crematorium at 2.00pm on Wednesday the 20th June.

30 May 2018

We regret to report the death of Paul Baird on 26 May at the age of 98.  Paul joined Marconi in 1964 and worked in radar.

4 May 2018

We regret to report the death of Peter Chapman on 26 April.

Peter joined Marconi’s in 1953 and was in the marketing department of MWT/Marconi Communications throughout the sixties and seventies initially concerned with sales of broadcast equipment.  Later in these decades he was the Marconi representative in various countries in the Middle East where his responsibilities were much wider.

His funeral was at Wickham Bishops parish church  at 2:30 pm, on Wednesday 9th May.

17 March 2018

We regret to report the recent death of Don Beckett.

Don joined Marconis in 1953 and worked at the Radar Development Group in Broomfield, later moving to Baddow.

He was a good violinist and played in the Essex Symphony Orchestra.

The funeral was held on Thursday 29th March, 13.30 at Chelmsford Crematorium with a wake afterwards at the Tulip pub.

 

15 March 2018

We regret to report the death of Tony Slocombe on 1st February aged 88 years.

The funeral to be held at

Chelmsford Crematorium,
South Chapel,
Tuesday 20th March at 11.30 am.

The family request no flowers, but donations if desired should be to Essex and Herts Air Ambulance.

 

21 January 2018

We regret to report the death of Anthony David Marley.  For anyone who may have known him his funeral will be held on 16^th February 2018 at 12 midday.

at

Southend Crematorium
Sutton Road
Southend On-Sea
Essex
SS2 5PX

18 January 2018

We regret to report the death of Ivor Denys Harrison on 9 January.

The funeral is to take place at Saint George’s Church, Heybridge Basin CM9 4RJ on Thursday 1 February at 12:30 followed by a gathering at The Jolly Sailor pub in the village CM9 4RS to which any of his friends or ex colleagues are welcome.

There are to be no flowers other than from the family, but if anyone wishes to make a donation it is to be for the marvellous Farleigh Hospice.

9 January 2018

We regret to report the death of Graham Smith on 6 January.

The funeral will be on Tuesday 6th February at Chelmsford Crematorium at 11.30 followed by a buffet and refreshments at the Secret Garden within Writtle Road Nursery a short walk away.  Lots of parking is available.

The family ask that no flowers be sent but if anyone wants to make a donation Graham requested it to go to the St Luke’s Hospice.

8 January 2018

We regret to report the death of Michael Stears on 25 December 2017.

His funeral will be held on Friday 12th January at All Saints Church Feering in Essex, followed by the committal at Three Counties Crematorium near Halsted. All are welcome.

Michael worked for Marconi`s as a senior Project Manager from the 1970`s until his retirement.

2 January 2018

We have been notified that the funeral of Steve Gratze is on Wednesday 17th January at 10.00 a.m. at Chelmsford crematorium.

16 December 2017

We regret to report the death of Mark Oliver who died on 4 December aged 83.

His funeral is at Chelmsford Crematorium on Thursday 4th January 2018 at 12:30pm.

Donations, if desired, will be for Cancer Research UK and should be sent to T Pennack and Sons, Funeral Directors, Chelmsford.

22 June 2017

We regret to report the death of John Whittaker on June 12, ending a period in his life that had not been easy.

His funeral is at Chelmsford Crematorium on Friday 30th June at 2:30pm.

 

13 June 2017

We regret to announce the death of Ted Pegram who died peacefully in hospital last Wednesday, 7th June.

The funeral is at Chelmsford Crematorium on Friday 23rd June at 10:30am and the family would be very happy to see friends and work colleagues there and to hear memories about Ted.

There is an autobiographical article by Ted at http://marconiradarhistory.pbworks.com/w/page/118791537/Ted%20Pegram

 

18 May 2017

We regret to announce the death of Alan Cushing who passed away unexpectedly in the Intensive Care Unit, Broomfield Hospital on 30th April 2017, aged 86.

The funeral Service will be at Chelmsford Crematorium on Tuesday 23rd May at 2.30 pm.

Donations, if desired, will be for the East Anglian Children’s Hospices and should be sent to T Pennack and Sons, Funeral Directors, Chelmsford.

The following appreciation of Alan from John Conrad, ex Marconi Radar and who now lives in Tennessee was received by MOGS:

I have fond memories of Alan Cushing who I worked for from about 1975 to about 1982 as a young engineer.  He taught me a lot about getting things done outside the “system”.  It is a skill I have used throughout my subsequent career with Textron, a US Defence Contractor, and continue to use as a retiree, managing volunteers.

Alan was single-minded in running the “Cushing Cottage Industry” and overcoming obstacles on a daily basis.  He was dedicated to maintaining/upgrading RAF radar systems along the east coast and RAF West Drayton.  He would take on challenges and then figure out how meet those challenges using whatever resources he could “acquire.”  I thoroughly enjoyed my time working with Alan and my colleagues Roy Wellsteed, Brian Martin, Ivan Newman, Ken Coates and others I cannot remember.  I moved on to work on the S713 Martello before leaving the company in 1984.

I consider Alan Cushing one of a few mentors in my life who really shaped my professional career and my approach to life. Taking responsibility for getting things done with or without cooperation from those around us.

 

8 May 2017

We regret to have to inform you of the death on Saturday 6 May 2017 of  Norman Alan Gilchrist (known as ‘Alan’), at home in Hull.

Alan’s funeral will be at 10.30 am 1 June 2017, Large Chapel, Chanterlands Avenue Crematorium, Hull.

If you wish to join cortege, it leaves from Co-Op Funerals on Holderness Road at 10.00.

There’ll be a ‘wake’ at the pop-in centre in Majestic Court afterwards.

18 March 2017

We regret to report the death of Fred Kime on 18 March.

Funeral details will be published here when they are known.

 

7 March 2017

We regret to report the death of Jim Hogan on 2 March.

His funeral will be on Monday 20th March at 11am at the Three counties crematorium, Halstead Road, Braintree CM7 5PB with a wake afterwards at Braintree Gold Club, Stistead, CM77 8DD.  All family and friends invited.

 

18 December 2016

We regret to report the death of Vic Olley on 18 December, the day after he celebrated his 90th Birthday yesterday with many Marconi friends present.  Vic was the shipping manager at New Street.

His funeral will be at Chelmsford Crematorium on 20 January at 10.30 am.

 

10 December 2016

We are sorry to have to report that Alan Alderson, ex-Design Office Manager at Selex Comms, passed away on 10 December following a protracted illness.

His funeral will be at Chelmsford Crematorium on 5 January at 1.30pm, with any donations to go to Farleigh Hospice, without whom Alan wouldn’t have been able to spend his last days at home.

 

8 December 2016

We are sorry to report the death of David French on 7 December.  David was a draughtsman at Marconis in 1968.

 

2 December 2016

We regret to report the death of R G Prior (Bob) on 2nd December.  Bob had been ill for sometime.

The funeral is on 6 December in Northumberland.

24 October 2016

We are sorry to report the death of Lester Bearcroft (ex Marconi Comms, New Street).

The funeral is on on Monday 21 November at 1 pm. No flowers please but donations to the charity The World Wildlife Fund can be made through contact with:

Pennacks Funeral Directors, 01245 471157.

The following appreciation of Les has been provided by his family.

Lester was born in India in 1931 and came to the UK with his family when he was 16.  He did his National Service in the RAF and was posted to Malaysia.  After that he moved to London and got a job as an inspector in a clock factory and then a company making meters.  He met Morreen Gunn in London and they were married and moved to Chelmsford where he got a job at Marconi’s in 1965.  He worked there until he retired.  

As a family we knew how much he loved his work and as a true engineer he would spend lots of time in his shed fixing radios, listening to radio stations from around the world, making circuits and repairing TV’s.  He enjoyed the camaraderie at Marconi’s and had great respect for his colleagues.  He liked a laugh, the Goons were a favourite, he was a good story teller and was very knowledgeable about most things in life.

Sadly missed by his family Linda, Paul and Diane.

 

9 October 2016

We are sorry to report the death of Mike Lewis (ex Marconi Radar) on 3 October.

The funeral is on Friday October 28th  at 1:30 at the South Chapel of Chelmsford Crematorium .

 

 

21 May 2016

We are sorry to report the death of Bryan Everett on 12 May at a Nursing home in Kelvedon where he lived with his wife.

The funeral is on Wednesday 1st June at the South Chapel of Chelmsford Crematorium.

If anyone wishes to make a donation in Bryan’s memory the family request it be made to Cancer Research.

 

27 February 2016

We are sorry to report the death of Frank Bennett on February 6th at a Chelmsford Care Home.  He was aged 83.

Frank spent his whole working life at Marconi Great Baddow as an RF Engineer.  He was a keen sailor and was Treasurer and general handyman of Marconi Sailing Club for many years.

The funeral is at Chelmsford Crematorium on Wednesday 2nd March at 2pm.

 

23 February 2016

We have been informed of the death of Brian Kendon on 9 February

He had a stroke a few weeks previously and died peacefully in hospital surrounded by his family.

His funeral will be at Chelmsford Crematorium on Thursday 10 March at 1.30 pm followed by a reception at The Orange Tree.  The family are asking that there are family flowers only, but for those who would like to make a donation, they ask that it is to the Stroke Association.

T Pennack & Sons funeral directors
Maldon Road
Great Baddow CM2 7DW) are handling this.

The family would be very pleased to see those who are able to come.  If you are then joining them at the Orange Tree it would assist with the catering if RSVPs could be sent to :
Gary.Linda at blueyonder.co.uk  or

Mrs L Dale
8 Hollywood Close
Chelmsford CM2 8DU.

 

18 January 2016

We have been informed of the death of Mr H N C Ellis-Robinson OBE, CEng, FIEE (known as E-R) on 17 January at the age of 91.

His funeral will be at Bodmin Crematorium on the 26th of January at 4.30pm.

ER, as he was always known was born in 1924, educated at Speedwell Prep School and Clayesmore School, Dorset.

In WW2 at the age of 17½ he volunteered and was accepted for aircrew in January 1942 but was rejected because of eye astigmatism and not called up again until he was 18 this time for non-aircrew. During this period worked as a laboratory assistant for Cyril Fogg at Signals Research & Development Establishment (SRDE), Christchurch on RDF so had his first contact with radar. When recalled to the RAF this was noted and therefore taken on as an RDF Mechanic (Ground).  Later in the war he had a special duties posting as an attachment to Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) working on a new Mobile Calibration Unit (MCU) being set up for special tracking at bombing ranges.

He finished the war at Yatesbury as an instructor on Ground Radar, whilst also maintaining equipment and building simulators.

After the war he returned to Southampton University to complete formal qualifications in electronics and physics, graduating in 1949. He then applied for a job with Marconi, being the only company in the south of England manufacturing ground radar sensors; he was interviewed by H J Wassell, who had recently been given the task of setting up a new department – the Radar Development Group (RDG)- to carry out the work required for the VAST project and was offered a job on radar transmitter design. He started in New Street, Chelmsford at the beginning of July 1949 and by the end of the first week was involved in a new magnetron transmitter and modulator for Types 13 and 14, which went into production in early 1951. Shortly after this the department moved to a refurbished site at Broomfield where it stayed until 1959.

By 1952 became a Senior Engineer responsible for a new 200MHz transmitter for Types 15 and 7 and team leader for the complete Type 15 radar. He was successively promoted through the 1950s to Section Leader posts with increasing responsibilities, becoming Group Chief in 1960.

In 1959 RDG work and staff transferred to the Research Department at Baddow, until 1965 when Marconi Radar Systems Ltd (MRSL) was formed.

He became Manager, Engineering Division MRSL in 1969 and Development Manager MRSL in 1975.

He retired in 1986.

 

28 December 2015

The Funeral of veteran John Gibbons will be held at 2.30pm on Wednesday 6th January 2016 at Chelmsford Crematorium.

 

13 November 2015

The following obituary was posted on the MOGS forum by Don Halstead using information also published in the Guardian and by the IET.

Ken Perry, C Eng, MIET June 1930 – July 2015

“The man crucial to Marconi’s success”

Ken Perry was born in Harrogate on 7 June 1930. He was evacuated during the Second World War to Blaenau Ffestiniog in North Wales. In 1948, he was called up for national service with the RAF, based at Lossiemouth on the Moray Firth.

He studied Physics with Mathematics at the University of Newcastle, after which he was taken on at Marconi. In 1956, he met Ann McEntee and in 1958 they were married at Brentwood Cathedral.

Ken worked for Marconi Radar Systems, under the leadership of Managing Director J W Sutherland CBE MA FIEE. Marconi’s Silver Jubilee publication (1994) states: “…. intruding aircraft could fly just a few feet above the sea …. below the cover of microwave defence radars.”  In order to track this threat, Ken Perry oversaw the development and production of a high frequency surface wave ‘over-the-horizon’ radar. Former colleague Gerry Valentine tells us: “Prior t0 1983 he was the Group Chief and expert on microwave components, designing them and manufacturing them for high-powered radar systems.”

In 1988, when Marconi Radar Systems registered interest in the Jindalee Operational Radar Network, Ken was instrumental in securing the contract for collaboration with Telecom Australia. Ken’s wife, Ann, remembers a phone call from the late J W Sutherland, in which he said that Ken had saved the company.

Ken continued to work with Marconi Radar Systems for seven years after his 65th birthday, being named as the inventor of the ‘near-vertical incidence HF radar’ on a patent application in 2001. After departing from Marconi in 2002, he continued to give lectures there for many years. He also gave lectures at the IET, and annually in support of his wife’s homoeopathic interests.

Ken died on 28 July 2015. He is survived by his wife Ann, four daughters Karen, Alison, Rachel and Nina, and nine grandchildren.

 

8 October 2015

We have been informed of the death of Irma Atterbury.   Her funeral will be at Chelmsford Crematorium on 19th October at 2.30 pm

 

22 September 2015

Bill White died on 10 September. His funeral will take place on Friday, 02 October, at 2.45 pm at Colchester Crematorium.

His partner Ann has requested that anyone attending should wear ‘bright, colourful clothes’ – apparently Bill did not like dark colours !

 

20 August 2015

Alan Boswell, ex Marconi Research, Great Baddow, died on 5 August at Broomfield Hospital.  His funeral is on Thursday 20^th  August at Chelmsford Crematorium at 2.30.  All friends welcome.

These tributes to Alan were added on 21 October 2015

Alan was born on 10 October 1943.  He began his love affair with ships, Morse code, etc as he watched the ships sailing out of the Tyne when growing up at Tynemouth, Northumberland.  He started learning Morse code in his early teens and took out his radio license -  call sign – G3NOQ.

He moved to Great Baddow, Essex, after university to start working for Marconi at Great Baddow as an electrical engineer.   Marconi became BEA Systems and Alan retired from them when he was 65. Alan had many other interests being a talented organist, madrigal and choral singer and in later life, speaker of Norwegian.  He used his new found learning to translate Norwegian articles into English and made many new friends in Norway.

Alan developed asthma which developed in more recent years into COPD with complications.  In late July he was rushed to hospital and seemed to be making a good recovery but suffered a relapse the day before he was due to be discharged.  Alan is sadly missed by his son Joe, his siblings Andrew and Nora, their families and his many friends.

Tribute by Dr Brian Austin, G0GSF
“Alan Boswell, G3NOQ was one of the RSGB’s most respected Members. Until his death on 5th August 2015 he was an active member of the RadCom technical panel. He had particular skill in vetting articles on antenna matters. I knew Alan well from our joint involvement with the IEE (now the IET), where we met at conferences and often interacted on technical issues to do with antennas. As recently as last year we collaborated in publishing an article on small loops, along with another retired engineer and radio amateur in South Africa (Mike Perks, ZS6BIM). It appeared in the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine last August.

Alan’s passing will leave a huge void in the professional antenna community where he was very highly regarded.”

 

27 July 2015

Derek Cox, ex Radar, died on 13 July.  His funeral will be at Broomfield Parish Church at 2.30 pm on 28 July followed by a reception at the British Legion Hall in Saxon Way, Broomfield.

 

6 April 2015

Alan Cheesewright died on 24 February.  His Funeral Service will be at St.Paul’s Church, Loftin Way, Great Baddow on Monday 13th April at 2.15 pm.

There will then be a family only service at the Crematorium but Ann has invited anyone who would like to come to South Lodge Hotel at approximately 3 pm after the service.

 

 

 

 

 

 

13 January 2015

John Viles  ex Airadio died on 6th January.   His funeral was at 1pm on Tuesday 20th January at Chelmsford Crematorium and afterwards at South Lodge Hotel.

 

13 January 2015

We have been informed of the death of Charles Rand’s Widow.  Charles was, for many years, the chairman of the MVA committee and was our President in 2008.

 

13 January 2015

The death of Gerry Dunne has been reported on the In Memoriam pages.  Gerry was our unofficial representative for the Hull area.  His funeral will be at St John’s Roman Catholic Church in Beverley and, afterwards, at the Rose & Crown (next door).