´óÏó´«Ã½

This story is the concluding part of three.
Part one can be found at bbc.co.uk/dna/ww2/a6207149
Part two can be found at bbc.co.uk/dna/ww2/a6207194.

Rolls-Royce Derby

I was asked to go to an interview at Rolls-Royce in Derby, and after a much more searching discussion with Mr Lovesey than the London interview, was asked if I would like to join the Merlin Development Office. I agreed but at the same time I felt that I would like more practical experience, like a post graduate apprenticeship. Unfortunately this was not practical whilst the war was on but they would see what could be done. I joined the company in February 1945 and met Bryan Salmon, who had joined a week before from Southampton University. We both worked for Len Hall who ran the Merlin Development office at Nightingale Road.

It was a friendly office and when I had my first discussion with Len Hall he had heard that I had asked if I could have some more practical experience. Although I was put into Dennis McCarthy’s section and given an actual job to do, trying to discover why many of our engines coming back from bombing raids over Germany lost their tappet clearance and, in the worst case, engines had to be shut down with failed valves. For my practical experience Len Hall had arranged for me to spend some time on the Test Beds. Luckily these were only about a hundred yards from the office so I kept a pair of overalls down there and spent several hours each day for several weeks, mainly with a tester named Goldstraw, called Goldie.

The tappet problem was eventually solved, one way or another and as my reference was then Lov/LBH/TAT it was suggested that they be renamed ‘Tattets’ but it didn’t catch on-they are still called Tappets.

It was whilst I was in this office that, on the 8th May 1945, the war in Europe ended with the complete capitulation of the German Army and there was rejoicing all over the country. Every town organised street parties, there were dances, and for the first time in five years the streets were lit up as far as they could be. Black-out curtains were taken down and either burnt or converted into something else and lights were shining from every window. There was a two day holiday-I spent the evening of VE day, as it was known, at a dance in Burton Town Hall. But we also had to remember those of our colleagues who did not come home and also that the war with Japan was still going on. For most of us the war was over. Tragically, for millions of others the worst was yet to come as Japan, the most ruthless of the enemy axis, was still an efficient fighting force. The war in the Far East continued for another three months until a final peace was signed on August 14th 1945, after two atomic bombs had been dropped on Japanese cities.

Life at Rolls-Royce did not suddenly change but slowly there came a realisation that the emphasis on aero-engine design and development was going to alter. For the last five or six years there had been only one ultimate aim-to make engines in as great a quantity as possible to answer the call of the fighting services, very often tailoring their characteristic to a special duty, for example the following anecdote is germane.

In the early 1930s Rolls-Royce developed an engine to power a seaplane for the Schneider Trophy air races and that was the R engine. Later, when Mitchell designed the Spitfire fighter aircraft for Vickers they chose an engine derived from the R engine which was called the Merlin. The specification called for very high power for fairly short periods and the engine lived up to that, it was also chosen for the Hurricane, very similar to the Spitfire but constructed mainly of wood rather than aluminium. As the war progressed there was a greater need for bombers and the Merlin engine was chosen for the Lancaster but with a different specification. Bombers were far longer in the air at any one time than fighters. Test schedules were designed to replicate, as far as possible, typical operational conditions.

The test schedule for a simulated bombing raid was based on ‘Take-off’ with full bomb load at maximum power for, say, two minutes to clear ground obstacles. Throttle back to ‘Climb’ conditions again with full load up to operational height then to ‘Cruise’ for an hour or so to reach the target area. At this point the schedule allowed for extra power to navigate and manoeuvre or dodge enemy anti-aircraft measures and finally to cruise conditions with a much lighter aeroplane for an hour or so back to base in England. Under this test schedule we were experiencing few major problems but reports from the air fields were very different and many of the flights were returning with engines misfiring or out completely. On inspection it was found that cylinder head joints were blowing, tappet clearances were down to zero or worse and sometimes valves were burnt out, which would lead to catastrophic failure of that engine.

I understand that it was in private conversation with pilots that we found out the true story of a bombing raid! Although their official orders reflected our test schedules, as some of them said, ‘No way are we going to cruise back to England at a leisurely pace whilst enemy action such as anti-aircraft guns and fighters are looking for us-we get back as fast as possible, and that means flogging the engines’. Our test schedules were altered and, sure enough, we started getting the same problems as they did. It answered the first question I was given ‘why are we losing tappet clearance?’ I cannot remember now how we overcame it.

With the war in Europe over, development of the Merlin was downgraded and most of the effort was transferred to development of the jet engines which had been handled, until then, in Barnoldswick. I was asked if I would change positions and go to a small outfit called Rig Test at Sinfin, where I remained for the next five years. One of my first colleagues in Rig Test was Gordon King who, unknown to me, at that time, was to play a significant part in my later career moves.

One of the advantages of working in Derby was that I could still maintain my Burton connections and friendships-in fact I think I went home most weekends after our Saturday morning stint. Yes, in those days the working week was forty eight hours including Saturday mornings. The one concession was that, on Saturdays, one could come to work in casual clothes, but that did not mean without a tie! Also during my first year or so I was still seeing Freda Evans on a regular basis but, her living in Bishops Itchington and me in Derby and Burton, made our meetings a little sporadic.

When I first met Freda in 1944 she was working as secretary to the Station Master at New Street station in Birmingham but soon afterwards she joined the Red Cross as an Administrative Assistant and went to Pipers Hill, where she was assistant to The Honourable Daphne Lakin who, with her husband, Col. John Lakin, owned the house which had been converted, during the war, to a military hospital. There, she met quite a few interesting people; Daphne’s brother was Lord Cowdray, of Midhurst and polo playing fame, who had lost an arm in the war. Also the Seymour family, very much tied up in Elizabethan history, were related and lived very close to Pipers Hill. One little anecdote that Freda told me later, but not at the time because of National Security, was that they often had ‘ghost’ patients. These were Officers who were on a secret mission, probably in enemy territory, and as a cover, to avoid awkward questions by family and friends, they were officially in hospital and unable to receive visitors! She remained at Pipers Hill until the war ended and then joined The British Council-but that’s another story.

At Rolls-Royce I continued in Rig Test for about five years altogether but only the first of these was during the war. At the same time I was going to Derby Technical College to take my exams for the Industrial Administration part of the requirements for corporate membership of The Institution of Mechanical Engineers and it was here that I joined my very first committee, of a society called The Sunday Club which met on Sunday evenings. I used to come there straight from Burton, or Birmingham. We used to have musical evenings (records were still turning out at 78rpm), debates, mock trails, etc. Eventually, I became Publicity Secretary-but that was later. Our other main out-of-work activity during the week, apart from going to the cinema, was pub-crawling round Derby, it had quite a few interesting drinking holes.

When one reflects on the War Years as a whole, it is difficult to try and condense into a few paragraphs all the incidents, hardships, emotions and frustrations we experienced. Although the war was officially over things did not suddenly change like they had when the war started, food continued to be rationed and in short supply and restrictions on labour were not removed-we could still not just leave our jobs and get others. Cars were still few and far between as petrol rationing was still in force and the roads were in very poor condition after five years of neglect.

National Service for all young men on attaining the age of seventeen also remained but this could be deferred to attend University or further education. I cannot remember how long the period of compulsory service was but I have an idea it was about 18 months to 2 years. Most of the National Service men spent much of their time either training in this country or in one of the countries liberated by the Allies, Germany, France, Italy etc. The Eastern European countries like Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia etc. were liberated by the Russians so they policed them. Certain areas, like Berlin and Vienna were jointly administered by both Allies and Russian forces, at first with a considerable degree of cooperation but, as the ideology of the two main power blocs became more polarised and, as Winston Churchill called it, ‘the iron Curtain came down across Europe’, friction between them increased and co-operation became confrontation. Serious incidents occurred, like the blockade of Berlin raised the dreaded possibility of another war with nuclear arms on both sides. It was not a happy time but life went on as normally as possible.

This story has been added to the site by Alison Tebbutt, Derby CSV Action Desk, on behalf of T A Trigg. The author has given his permission.

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.