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 1966 DIARY & NOTES

01 JAN to 11 FEB

The following account of the last six weeks I was at M.I. is presented in diary form, without linked notes but with copies of documents available for inspection.

When on Friday 31st December S.H. Arms had given me until Friday 7th January to hand in my resignation or be dismissed, he had also agreed I should spend the week from Monday 3rd January attending an English Electric management course on Human Relationships!  Arms was playing some sort of game but it was not a kind I cared for and it reinforced my determination make a forceful statement of my case with a view to getting out of M.I. on the best terms possible.

My first step was to phone my bank and asked for its recommendation of a solicitor to handle company/employee matters. I was referred to a Mr. Eames of Neve, Son & Co., Harpenden. I saw Mr. Eames straight away and got advice about sending a letter claiming 12 months salary as well as  compensation. I also raised with him a query about tax on the compensation.

I worked away on drafting a letter to Arms, in which I reviewed the past history of my time at M.I. and put in a massive claim for compensation.

At the top of the Draft, in addition to stating "To SHA, copies to REB & WAGB", I also typed "Should I send a copy to the Chairman?" - later I crossed this out as I had decided not to appeal to higher authority but to limit my big splash to a small pool. This was a great mistake.

0900 I showed the draft letter to my solicitor. He approved and I gave a copy for Sheila to type fair copies for sending on to me.

I arrived mid-morning at The Regent Hotel, Leamington Spa, to join English Electric course F1. I had with me the course book, Managerial Psychology by Harold Leavitt. The Chapter on manipulation had already increased my insight into what had been: going on in M.I. During the week I sounded out other members of the course on their attitude to manipulation and was gratified and encouraged to find that they were all against it. 

A list of Course F1 Members was provided but there were a number of additions. Actual members on the course, as distinct from the printed list provided were J. Brown, E.A.G. Croom, C. Hudson, J. Kenny, D. McArthur, P. McKee, E.W. Roberts, A.R. Eade, Bob Davidson, Mike Tomblin, Tony Rees & Bob Elmer.  65a03 .

The Programme proceeded as set out. 

In the Introductory Session I stated my current position of now having only 4 staff reporting to me.  66a03 .

I wondered if some of the course material had been introduced to reflect my experiences at M.I. - for example, there was an exercise about the fate of people who write protest letters to superiors (cf my letter to Sir Gordon Radley).

A letter arrived at home from R.A. Eames of Neve etc., correcting advice about tax & explaining the legal position. 

I made some notes during the communication session and another one on negotiations ("make a concession", "give him a ladder to climb down").   66a05 .

Out of the blue the Course Tutor, Geoffrey Holroyde, asked me whether I had thought of moving on from M.I. into another part of the E.E. Group. Was he, I wondered, asked to discover what was happening at M.I. or to find out what I was thinking of doing about it? I showed him a copy of my letter to Arms and he commented that he thought the letter was a good one. He added that the crisis situation I was in had not shown at all in my work on the course.

I received at Leamington Spa the final copies of the letter to Arms and posted them to reach Arms, Burnett and the Company Secretary, Bill Brian, by the deadline of the 7th. 

George Bosworth arrived with, unexpectedly, Dr. Wakeley of Whetstone, and gave a talk to the course, during which it seemed to me he directed some quite strong hints to me personally.

He said something about seeing that research men get right to the top - I was the only research man there. He also said, looking directly at me, that he intended to look after highly respected members of the engineering profession.

He also spoke about membership of closed societies. As Director of Personnel of the E.E. Group and the first person I had seen in the long process of my change from the University of Cambridge to the E.E. organisation he would probably have known that I was a Freemason and that I would recognise the oblique reference to that institution. [It was 25 to 35 years later that I learned that Bosworth was a Freemason, though I do not know from what date].

Shortly after these points had been made (after 20 minutes or so) there was a message to the effect that Lord Nelson, the Chairman of E.E., wanted Mr. Bosworth to go to London straight away to discuss an extremely urgent matter and would Mr. Bosworth take a phone call about it. The call was put through to my bedroom, which was nearest to the Conference Room in which the course sessions were being held and I was asked to show George Bosworth where the telephone was. I did so.

Although in a letter to George Bosworth some three or so weeks before I had said I looked forward to talking to him on the course, I did not stay around to do so. Circumstances at M.I. had since radically changed for the worse (though there was very much worse to come) and I was now set on the course I had initiated on New Year's Day.  Also I was much put out by the yet another link to Lord Nelson - was George Bosworth acting on behalf of the Chairman or was he involved in a plot against him?  [I now think from later comments - by Louis Cohen of the Institute of Physics - that the call from Lord Nelson was bogus].

All in all, however, I was somewhat reassured by the hints he had dropped - it was the first occasion I realised that points aimed specifically at an individual could be woven into a speech to a general audience - perhaps, after all, there would be a job in another part of English Electric.

A photo was taken of the course group on the stairs at The Regent Hotel, Leamington Spa. 

At M.I., a notice had been issued in my absence stating that what was left of my Department, including presumably myself, would be absorbed into the Engineering Department under Arthur Wray. 

I arrived back in my office at M.I., St. Albans after the week on the Human Relations course. While I was reading for the first time the notice circulated on Friday 7th, saying that what was left of my Research Department had been transferred to the Engineering Department, I received a telephone call from my distraught wife saying that a registered letter had arrived at home from M.I., giving me one month's notice.  This was an intensification by Arms of his 'shock & awe' technique, carried into my home life.

I 'phoned N. Sutherland, the new Chairman of Marconi, who granted me an interview immediately after lunch. I left at once, without contacting my seniors at M.I., and went home to comfort Sheila before driving first to Baddow to see a Mr. P. Way about a MATE matter and then to Chelmsford to see Sutherland.

I told Sutherland that I had not come to ask for a reinstatement. I was a misfit at M.I. I had sought a satisfactory job but none had been forthcoming. I did not say anything about Arm's antics - I still regarded Burnett as the main problem and I therefore said Ray Burnett was a brilliant person but our personalities clashed. I asked if there was a vacancy at Marconi Company at Chelmsford - he said he had already checked with his Personnel Manager and there was none.

I said that our MATE consortium report had recommended that the next phase should be under the auspices of Marconi Co. as main contractor rather than M.I. and that a project manager would be needed - he said he could not see the relevance. It seemed that N. Sutherland knew nothing about my strenuous efforts on the MATE project.

I then turned my attention to getting out of M.I. on a better financial basis. I told Mr. Sutherland that I thought one month's notice was ridiculous. True my letter to Arms, which he could see if he wished (he declined, saying he did not wish to get involved in detail) may have been ill-advised, but I thought I was entitled to a bronze handshake in view of all the half-promises that had been made. He said I ought to get three to six months salary. He advised me not to brood on it but to go back and resign - it would look better on my record.

Finally, he said a curious thing; he asked me if I knew Lord Snow at the Ministry of Technology. I said I did not - but that I had met Blackett.

(About a year later I showed N. Sutherland the record of our meeting on which this account is based and he said it was accurate, except that he had not said three to six months).

I went straight back to M.I. at St. Albans and saw Shull Arms in his office, which was next to Ray Burnett's. He was in a conciliatory mood. He agreed to my receiving six months' salary upon my resignation and set a new deadline of 4 p.m. on January 12th - two days time - for receiving it. He also made a cryptic remark about having been to the Employers Federation and that he now had all the power in the Company; as he said this, he nodded towards R.E. Burnett's cigarette box which was on his desk - it had never been there before. Arms was presumably indicating that he was going to be M.D. I took in this detail but was so incensed with my treatment that I disregarded it. The reference to the Employers' Federation I took at that time to mean that I had been released from some 'reserved' list which was an obstacle to my getting a job elsewhere.

Finally, Arms said that my reaction had shown there was much 'gold' beneath the surface!

It was around this time that my secretary told me she was leaving - with all my staff gone I would be completely isolated. I still had an office but it was clear from the unusual calls for the use of my Conference Room by people from quite different parts of the organisation that word had gone around that it was available to all. During this time I was constantly being asked probing questions such as "Will you be representing M.I. or another Company on this or that Committee?"

I received a letter from A.C. Lynch, GPO Dollis Hill, about my note on Measurement in the IEE. He had incorporated my points in his paper.  66a10 .

I went home and that evening made application to W.G. Pye Ltd. for the post of Director of Design and Development, which had been advertised, and also gave some thought to my resignation..

I 'phoned W.A.G. Brian (Company Secretary) from home and asked what form my resignation should take. Bill Brian told me that the Company's solicitors were insisting on the withdrawal of' my letter to Arms as part of my resignation 'package'. I told him I would do so if the company agreed that it would not prevent my getting other employment. Up to this time, I had told no one at M.I. that I had consulted a solicitor (there was no mention of a solicitor being involved in my letter to Arms, c.c. Burnett & Brian). I now instructed my solicitor to come to an agreed form of resignation with the Company's solicitors along these lines. I then went into M.I.

Shortly after I arrived in my office Shull Arms entered and asked rather plaintively how solicitors had come to be mixed up in the situation and asked me to dispense with mine. I got the impression that things had got more serious than he intended and that he hadn't known about the Company's solicitors being involved. So who had contacted them? Burnett? I think Burnett was working away in the background bringing in the Company's solicitors and hence mine.

It. was about this time that I met Ray Burnett for the first time in several days in the corridor near his office. He asked me if I was managing to get things fixed up. As I replied, he looked around apprehensively and drew me into his office so that we could not be overheard. I told him it was best for me to make a complete break with M.I.

The interesting point that arises out of all this is: Who bears the responsibility for what went on? All the direct moves so far as I was concerned were coming from Arms, who was Technical Director and therefore responsible to Burnett, the M.D. It is possible, however, Arms may have been under instructions from higher up in the organisation and outside M.I.  Yet other moves were going on of which Arms was clearly not aware and here was the M.D. pretending that he did not know what his Technical Director was doing. Or was he pretending? Arms seemed to be claiming that he now had all the power in the Company. Was this true or was it bluff? If it was true then Burnett was just keeping himself informed by asking if everything was fixed up. Alternatively he may have been gathering information to help him restore his position.

Continuing again, Arms was most insistent that the resignation should be in his hands by 4 p.m. on Wednesday 12th January, implying that the six months salary arrangement would not be implemented if I did not comply.

I and my solicitor did all we could to meet the deadline. There was little else for me to do at that particular time. My solicitor came to M.I. and having conferred with me in my office, we went to Arms's office where we were joined by Bill Brian. The terms were satisfactory to all concerned. Apart from the financial side, the key clause I had insisted on - that the Company would not do anything to prejudice my obtaining other employment - was included. I set great store by this - I didn't want a repetition of my previous experiences. In return I undertook not to sue the company. The question of withdrawing my letter was not raised but Arms did insist on having back the letter giving one month's notice, which he tore up ceremonially there and then. The agreement was signed, 1 hour 10 minutes late, accompanied by a remark from Arms that he had a heart of gold. 

I gave Arms two letters of resignation.  One on yellow paper, which must have been typed by my secretary on her last day at M.I., gave notice of my intention to resign and the other on green paper, which I typed at home, gave notice that I  resign.  I said to Arms that he could take his pick - I believe in giving people chances.  He did not respond. 

As we were leaving, my solicitor remarked how friendly everyone was! His account and covering letter, received about three months later, sets out much of what happened.    

There was a Product Policy Committee meeting in the morning. I was excluded (not unnaturally, even though the agreement stipulated my employment did not cease until 12th February). Garthwaite was brought in. Some momentous decisions were made. I got the impression that Arms had been defeated. From this meeting, Burnett emerged triumphant. I did not see him during the day, except in the distance, but I did see him and Arms - much to my surprise - in the evening.

I had booked to attend a Measurements Dinner organised by the IEE at the Café Royal.  The 1966 Dinner was an occasion on which the two hundred engineers present could be particularly cheerful for in the past year or so increasing attention and support had been given to the field of Measurement within the Institution. I myself had played a prominent part in these developments. Perhaps the most notable single achievement in this field was the meeting, arranged in the face of opposition and predictions of failure, under the title "What Is Measurement?" This was attended by a record 400 engineers and for liveliness, erudition and interest set an exceptionally high standard. 

In view of what had happened at M.I. I had not requested the use of a chauffer-driven car and I had decided not to charge M.I. for expenses for myself and guest.

When I arrived at the Cafe Royal I saw that Sir Gordon Radley was present. I knew that Sir Gordon, a Past President of the IEE and until a few weeks before the Chairman of M.I., was the guest speaker but I had attached no particular importance to it. I was, however, staggered to see Arms and Burnett there. Burnett had attended only one IEE Dinner before, as my guest. Arms had never attended and indeed had expressed himself opposed to all kinds of IEE meetings. The presence of both of them was most surprising. All of the M.I. people, including myself, were seated at the top table. I could not help wondering if the deadline set by Arms was related to the Dinner. This grew to a strong conviction when I considered the behaviour as well as the presence of Arms and Burnett.

The normally calm and reserved Sir Gordon Radley, who I later realised had worked hard on my behalf but had been out-manoeuvred, looked at me in great distress - like that of a wounded animal - as he made his way to his seat of honour. Burnett was cock-a-hoop, almost dancing with joy, while Arms was crestfallen, morose. I am strongly of the opinion that Sir Gordon was going to announce something at the Dinner, which had been thwarted by the goings on at Marconi Instruments.

I was seated with my guest ten places or so from the centre on top table while Burnett and Arms were placed in an equivalent position on the other side. 

With me at that top table were many of the people with whom I had come in close contact in some of my multifarious activities - for example Professor John Coales of Cambridge, IEE Secretary George Gainsborough and the leading electricity measurements man, Lionel Golds. Next to me on one side was James Greig, a Professor at my own College, King's of London. I discussed with him another of my fields of interest, namely Design, drawing on the back of the menu card a diagram showing the relationships of the design activity to the manufacture of products. On my other side was a close friend from Cambridge Instruments days, John Davis, standing in for the guest I had originally booked in. That absent guest was Richard Foxwell, who had cried off at the last minute, probably connected with the M.I. events.

At the appropriate point in the proceedings Sir Gordon Radley, Past President of the IEE, was introduced as the guest of honour, reference being made to a paper on Instrument Design he had delivered some 15 years before. 

It was clear from the outset of his speech that he was in considerable distress and indeed he hadn't got far when he suffered a nose-bleed and had to abandon what he was saying. It was ironic that in retiring from the room the probable cause of his suffering, Ray Burnett, was in attendance.

Since I was getting out of M.I. I had decided to do my utmost to offend no-one. I regarded Burnett as a very dangerous man and I had to try and keep on the right side of him. L.B.S. Golds said as we were leaving that Burnett had told him during the Dinner that I was between jobs or changing jobs.

See Table Plans & Menu for further details.    66a13 . On file is a list of those present.  (66a13).

Also that day W.A.G. Brian, Secretary of M.I. Ltd., wrote accepting my resignation from 12th February. 

For the next week I hardly attended M.I. - I was busy drawing up a new C.V., writing out job applications etc.

1230 King's College London. I had lunch with Prof. James Greig. Prof. Greig was a very kindly Scot, friendly so far as I can judge to all. He certainly was to me. I am not sure if he was at that time a Governor of Hatfield College of Technology, along with Burnett, Coales and Mercer.

Why in the midst of the hubbub of my departure from M.I. did I lunch with Professor Greig? I cannot now remember. He probably invited me the previous week, when we had sat next to each other at the Measurements Dinner. Alternatively we may have subsequently gone home by train together on the Bedford line from St. Pancras, Prof. Greig getting out at Radlett.

I no doubt derived some comfort from my visit to him. I probably told him that I was leaving M.I. and was looking for another job - I would certainly not have told him the reasons.

I received a letter from W.G. Pye declining my application for the post of Director of Research and Development without even inviting me for interview. And this was the Company whose M.D., Storey, who I had never met, proposed me for membership of the Council of the Scientific Instrument Research Association (SIRA). He had telephoned me at M.I. and had asked for the honour of putting my name forward. At some time Storey told me that he had been asked by someone else to put my name forward but he couldn't remember or wouldn't tell me who.

I received a letter from Rear Admiral John Raven, who lived in St. Albans, about a job at Ether Langham Thompson, Bushey, of which he was a Director. My morale would no doubt have gone up. I had met John Raven on the Electronics Divisional Board of the IEE where he had represented the Royal Navy. He had been most helpful and encouraging to me in my Design activities in the IEE. I had written saying I would like a job, mentioning a good salary, and he had responded by saying that there was a possibility of a post and asking me to apply on a form provided. 

A memo circulated by a secretary to the Managing Director advised that a Buffet Lunch would be provided in Mr. Burnett's Dining Room for 10 E.E. Group Press Officers visiting the Works. 

An Engineering Department Report was issued by Wray about a VLF project which had been carried out by D.J. Grover under my auspices. It was kind of Arthur Wray to issue it at this time; previously he had not had the slightest interest in VLF.

There was also issued a report on an RMS voltmeter which exploited an idea I had of fast prototyping e.g. by buying in a competitors latest model and cannibalising it to get a crude but fully working model available soonest for evaluation in production and marketing terms, from which M.I.'s competitive instrument could be designed in detail and developed. This was the opposite of the traditional 'sequential finality' concept which had been explained to me by David Marples.

There was a visit by the Board of Dynamco & Digital Measurements Limited, including a Chairman (Bridges), Managing Director (Jennings), Technical Director (Knight) and Commercial Director (Rawlings). Dr. R.B.D. Knight was a member of my IEE E1 Committee. The visit seemed to me intentionally downputting - the visiting directors were introduced to Arthur Wray who gave them a tour of the Engineering and Research Departments. 

In the afternoon I attended the first meeting of an Ad Hoc Panel on Measurements at the IEE. Other members of the Panel were A.C. Lynch (Chairman), L.B.S. Golds, P. Vigoureux, F.C. Widdis, Prof J. Brown, F.J. Lane. All were present along with E. Mills of the Secretariat.  66a21 .

I had been responsible for the formation of the Panel. There had been a good deal of 'politicking' over Measurements in the IEE and I had strongly advocated the setting up of an impartial Panel to review the situation. However, due to a last-minute volte face by a member of the IEE Secretariat - F. Jervis Smith - it looked as though the Panel was going to be anything but impartial so I felt I had to attend. My prognostication proved to be correct.

There was a long discussion covering numerous points. It was decided not to invite a Ministry of Technology representative onto the Panel but that instead A.C. Lynch and myself were to have informal discussions with interested members of the Ministry.

One point of particular interest is that there was an item added to the Agenda at the meeting itself which was entirely out of keeping with the purpose of the Panel. This was an item on Stress Analysis - a technical subject of interest to only a few specialists. I strongly suspect that this item was introduced as an allegorical reference to my own situation, as viewed by at least some of those responsible for what was taking place. It had been said back at M.I. - by Doug Willis for example - that I was being tested for maintaining role under stress. Perhaps the volte face was in pursuance of this process - it certainly put me in a position where I had to fight hard against strong opposition - and an allegorical reference might have been to make this fact known to me. If so, what right had anyone acting in an IEE capacity to subject me to such pressures?  Regarding the inclusion of the Stress Analysis item in the Panel's proceedings, it should be noted that several members of the Secretariat had links with large companies through previous employment and all IEE staff had links with industry as a natural consequence of the work of the IEE

I joined the English Electric Course on Business Management E1 at Dunchurch Lodge, near Rugby.  Even though there was only three weeks left to my resignation taking effect, I was encouraged by Shull Arms to go on this as well as the previous course. For my part, I thought attendance would increase my chances in the job market.  A range of standard topics was covered. 

Course members were listed as S.A. Biggins, P.J. Haslam, L.R. Hodges, D.H. Huxtable, W. Isbister, R. Judd, D. McArthur, R.V. Matthews, P. Plant, R.G. Saunders, P.J. Walker, and J.R.S. Wilkie. Additional names in the Introduction Session were Rowland and J Caldwell.

Dunchurch Lodge, the E.E. staff 'college', was said to have been set up at the instigation of Ray Burnett and I had been given to understand that the Principal, Barry Turner; was a close pal of his. I met Barry shortly after my arrival on the course and the first thing he did was to ask me if I was really going to leave the Company. He also said something about Sir Gordon Radley trying to help me - somebody, he said, had told him this (nudge, nudge). He also referred to a Chair which had been going at Swansea, asking "Wasn't it good enough for you?" - I had considered applying but had decided against. I hadn't mentioned the Chair to anyone so who had he got it from? A point I made was that I would use the six months to contact the Ministry of Technology over Electronics Design.

During the course I carried on as though I was Research Manager of M.I. so far as the other course members were concerned but the staff knew what my position was. Through the course work I made it clear that I was interested in general management with an emphasis on product policy. Also, honesty in business.

George Bosworth gave a session from 1400 to 1530 on The Management Plan. He said some things which were encouraging to me on this course as well as the last and smiled directly at me in a very friendly way as he said them. On this occasion I had no chance to speak to him.

See also a list of Speakers showing job titles, course E1 Membership list as originally issued, and notes on course members at Introduction Session.   66a24 .

I received a Draft of an IEE paper on Electronics Design and amended it as soon as possible.  66a25 .

One man had come onto the course at very short notice from Whetstone, Arms's former abode in the E.E. Group. He said he was trained by Arms and was extremely grateful to him - he had taught him how to pull the wool over peoples' eyes.  If this was supposed to lead to a rapprochement with Arms it completely misfired.

The Director of Studies, Geoffrey Holroyde, asked why I didn't opt to work at Dunchurch Lodge part-time. They would be happy to pay half my salary. I made no comment.

Friday 28 January 1966

On arrival back at home on the 28th, a letter awaited me from Hewlett Packard inviting me to come and see them on the 3rd February - I had enquired about a job with them.

I also found that my wife had arranged for us to spend the evening with Jack Thompson at his home at Digswell, near Welwyn. Apparently Jack had telephoned, asked for me and, finding I was absent, had arranged the evening visit with my wife. I had told him only a few days before that I was going away. He could have forgotten, of course, but in view of what transpired at his home, I doubt it.

During the evening, Jack Thomson repeatedly brought up the question of M.I. and of Measurement. I had brought a record with me and to avoid discussing M.I. etc., I asked him to play bits of it (it was a Hoffnung Festival record). Nevertheless he persisted in bringing up M.I. matters and this made it obvious he was acting on somebody else's behalf. One of the points he made strongly was that he was a political animal - a person had to be to qualify for the 'boss' class, he said. He also said something about alot of marketing men having Rover 2000's - this was and was known to be my favourite car at the time. One man in the Applications Department - on the marketing services side at M.I. - had a Rover 2000 which I had much admired. When I could not prevent points related to M.I. being put to me to me by J.R. Thompson, I listened, noted and remained determinedly silent about my employment affairs.

Letter to Dr. A.C. Stickland, Editor & Deputy Secretary of the Institute of Physics, adjudicating a JSI paper re a Digital 'Boxcar' Integrator.

The customary Notice about visitors to M.I. in the coming week had been circulated.  It showed that the Chairman, FN Sutherland, was coming to see R.E. Burnett on Tuesday 4th February.  

A notice dated (by rubber stamp) 21st January was in my in-tray saying that G.H. Scott, with whom I had worked closely on security matters in connection with MATE and with whom I got on well, was being transferred to the marketing side. R.E. Burnett's signature appeared on the notice - the first time for weeks.

1430 I chaired a meeting of the Committee on Electronics Design at the IEE. Members present were Prof. M.W. Humphrey Davies, W.D. Mallinson, I.M. Ross and P.E.M. Sharp, with J.L Regan of the Secretariat in attendance. Topics covered included design data, conferences on the teaching of design and organisation for design, a joint meeting with the Industrial Marketing Research Association and future activities.  66a31 .

There was much bickering, some of which appeared to be deliberate. There was one contribution which stuck out a mile - this was from Prof. Humphrey Davies of Queen Mary College, who spoke about the importance of work on the marketing side, especially in Applications Engineering. I had always been puzzled by Prof. H.D.'s involvement with my Committee - he had asked to come on it, when he had been in fairly high office in another part of the IEE.

Note in diary - A.C. Stickland - Professional Conduct.

1030 IEE. Meeting of E1 Committee. Presumably I chaired it (minutes not to hand).  I noted what fields should be covered by the forthcoming annual recruitment to membership of the E1 Committee (66b01).  

1100 IEE P&P Book s/c.  Probably did not attend.

Presumably I left the IEE early to get back to M.I. in time for lunch.

Chairman F.N. Sutherland visited M.I. and stayed to lunch. I was not seated at his table and there was an unusual variation of the table plan.

1730 IEE E1 meeting on Common Mode Problems.

Complete change in atmosphere at M.I. I was seated at Burnett's table for the first time for some weeks and indeed next to him on his left. He spoke about people who watched The Power Game thinking that industry was made up of men cheating others out of directorships and also said something about people not being confidence tricksters.  He took an interest in the Hoffnung record I told him I had bought and said he would get a copy himself, etc. He went out of his way to be pleasant.

After lunch Brodrick, the Commercial Manager, came into my office and apologised for having scowled at me over the past week or so.

Shortly afterwards Arms came in and made what I took to be a suggestion to go home until Monday 7th February. He suggested I draft out a notice announcing my departure from the Company in whatever form I wished and made some reference to collecting for a present over a wider area than the Research Department being customary in such circumstances.

It may well be that a Marconi Board meeting was going on or had taken place that morning in London at which decisions regarding appointments were being made.

Advert in ELECTRONICS WEEKLY for Technical Manager job at Racal.  66b02 .

We were entertained to dinner by a neighbouring couple, who we had known for about 3 years. He held a senior position in the City. After the meal, when sitting over drinks, our host brought up the question of Machiavellian practices - he said he very much enjoyed seeing a reaction to some ploys he had initiated. I told him how I deplored such practices and that I regarded them as quite unnecessary.

Drafted resignation notice.  66b04 .

First thing in the morning I gave Arms my resignation notice. He didn't tear it up but issued it, purportedly as a General Notice. 

In the afternoon Scott initiated another conversation with me. He spoke on the one hand of people going out into the wilderness and coming back. On the other, not to ask for less than £2000 in addition to what I was getting now. While with Scott, my resignation notice came round. The circulation list covered the whole Company.

In the evening I wrote to Bosworth asking for another job in E.E. Group.  I enclosed a C.V. and a note outlining my employment preferences.  

Letter from T. Mulvey re Faulkner & Whippey paper & boundary between JSI & BJ Applied Physics.

I 'phoned P. Goudime (M.D. of Electronic Instruments, Ltd. and Technical Director of Cambridge Instruments) to ask if he was going to the Physics Exhibition Committee in the afternoon. I hoped to talk to him about a job. His secretary said he was not in his office but she would let him know I had 'phoned.

P. Goudime turned up at the Exhibition Committee meeting with Burnett, who made a point of sitting next to me and showing embarrassing cameraderie. Burnett was lavish in offering the services of M.I. to the Committee, especially the Publicity Manager's.

Burnett offered me a lift to St. Albans in his car. At first I refused then thought it churlish so accepted. During the journey he suggested I should take on Secretaryship of the Institute of Physics for a spell, before joining the 'club'. He pointed out that he had progressed in easy stages to top rank. He rather laboured the point that his wife and children were interested in charity work. I said I thought that manipulation could be taken so far as to be unethical. His reaction when I suggested he might not have the use of the car the following week (there was a threatened petrol delivery strike) was one of fear. This was a deliberate double entendre on my part - I was getting the hang of 'probe' communications. He dropped me at St. Albans station with an appealing, plaintive, "We will be seeing you, won't we?".

I received a negative reply from Bosworth. Did G. Bosworth know of the resignation agreement when he saw me on the second E.E. management course and when he turned down my renewed request for a posting in the E.E. group?

Arms was angry with me. He agreed , short-tempered, that I could take my office files away with me. In his presence I signed the relevant Official Secrets Act declaration, on leaving classified employment.

Of the contents of my filing cabinet I took away only my diaries and personal papers, together with a few examples of reports of no commercial interest. I took no MATE papers other than correspondence about a meeting at Arborfield, at which I represented the IEE, and a synopsis by Roy Knowles of a contribution he made to an open IEE meeting. I later discovered I had in my possession a few insignificant early jottings about chapter headings for the MATE report.

Some time during the day I was told that when my resignation notice came round while I was with Scott on the 7th, it had been circulated to only a few people. So the resignation notice had been another psychological stick. Echoing a claim he made before, Doug Willis, Applications Manager, said that many of the meetings I had attended had been 'rigged' to train me.

Brodrick remarked that the trouble was I hadn't been given enough power and made reference to Whipple (Chairman of Hilger and Watts) being due for retirement and requiring a successor.

R. Foxwell visited the Company. He was shown as visiting Arms - an indication that Arms was in charge at least before the weekend when the notice was issued. I saw him for only a few seconds as I loaded the car with my files, books, journals etc.

A collection was taken over the Research Department only.

A cheque for six months' salary was presented to me in my office, probably by Bill Brian. Then the Manager of the X-Ray Department called in and said they badly needed a good physicist as consultant. He asked if I could suggest anyone and would I come across and see the sort of things they dealt with. He added that the Department was growing rapidly and a consultant could find himself in a commanding position before long. Another manager (I have no note of who) came and said how badly they needed an engineer in the marketing department.

In the afternoon (and continuing the following day) there was the most distasteful period of my life for, coupled with the barrage of hints about jobs, there were references to my inadequacies and lack of success and how my efforts at the IEE were useless, etc. To those involved it was just another hate campaign but it filled me with disgust that some senior members of staff could behave in that way.

Letter from the Ministry of Defence about the post of Dean of the Royal Military College of Science. 

A farewell lunch had been hinted at for my last day at M.I. but in the event only about five junior staff were present and only one senior man (Burnett) was on site, at least at lunchtime. Even on that day there were hints of other posts and if anything definite had been offered I might well have stayed but I was at odds with the indirect 'manipulation' approach and decided to cut loose completely.

My former Research Department staff presented me with a lighter and a "With All Good Wishes" card. The card was signed by Peter Broderick, Alan Malsher, Colin Yarker, H. Burton, C.J. Davison, Derrick Grover, Kenneth Taylor, S. Carruthers, Mike Cadwallader, Dave Bissett, G.H. Lloyd & Keith Hemingway.  66b11 .

I repaid my Company cash float of £15.  66b11 .  I took away lists prepared by my secretary of members of the various committees to which I belonged.  

I went round saying goodbye to the junior staff who were around. Then, finally, I went into Burnett's office to say goodbye - he did not even get up nor respond to my offered hand. I slipped unobtrusively away.

7a

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