| brando |
05-31-2011 07:48 PM |
After being wounded during the evacuation from Dunkirk, my late father-in-law was discharged from the army and returned to his pre-war occupation as a carpenter/joiner.
Having completed his apprenticeship in the furniture trade some ten years previously he was selected to work on the Mosquito project where he remained until the war's end. He also worked on the construction of the Horsa gliders.
Afterwards he spent nearly twenty in the film industry. Based at Pinewood he worked on constructing the sets for many films, including half a dozen of the James Bond movies. Eventually he returned to the aero industry as a pattern-maker. Among the items he created was the pattern around which the Harrier's jet-ducts were formed. Made from lignum vitae to withstand the heat of the production process the pattern was formed from seven interlocking pieces to enable its removal from the finished duct. I remember him explaining the need for reaching a very high standard of accuracy - measured in thousandths of an inch - and the fact that the whole thing was created by hand.
His strongest memory was always the Mossie though. He rated those as his best and most enjoyable work in a long career.
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