John Grey joined ICT after finishing his 
National Service in the early 1960’s. He worked 
for ICT / ICL until the very early 90’s, in
1/3 Factory, Letchworth.
 
He was well known at 1/3 factory working in
Management Information Systems.
 
John was a big football fan, specifically his 
Local Team Hitchin Town Football Club. 
His other love was for cricket.
 
John was  80 years old when he passed 
away on Sat 25th January 2020, at Bedford 
Hospital.
 
He is survived by Wendy, his wife of 57 years, 
two children, Brian and Alison, and grandchildren 
Francesca, Daniel and Toby.
 
Hitchin Town Football Clubs article link below:
https://hitchintownfc.club/tribute-to-john-gray/
 
Reported by His Son Brian.

We have been informed of the passing of George Rouse,
who slipped away on the 13th of December in Bedford 
Hospital.

His daughter Samantha said “ Despite my father’s 
declining health in recent years, his death was 
completely unexpected.  He had been looking forward 
to celebrating Christmas and my parents' 60th wedding 
anniversary on 2nd January”.

The funeral will be on Friday 17th January 2020 at 
1:15pm at St Michael and All Angels Church, Shefford,
Bedfordshire, SG 17 5DD .

Followed by a Cremation at Norse Road Crematorium, 
Bedford

Dave Dawson sadly passed away on Wednesday 4th 
of December, he had been fighting with cancer for 
some time.

Dave moved around the Company during his 
illustrious career and enjoyed working in many 
company locations. WAK01, MAN12, LET01 
and LON24 to name but a few,

His funeral will take place on Wednesday 18th 
December at 3.15pm at Huddersfield Crematorium, 
64 Fixby Road, Huddersfield, HD2 2JF
 
Dave is remembered by many who knew him
and lets face it, he was quite a character.

Reported by :- Julie Fowler and Kim Baker

Funeral detail below, but here below are a few 
instant responses from those who were so lucky to 
have worked with Richard.
      * * * * * * * *
“ What an ebullient character - Churchillian in 
demeanour with a cheeky laugh and a sideways 
glance as he puffed on his pipe.

He inspired The Putney Bridge Approach Journal 
with a 25,000 readership worldwide. With his 
support, we developed the 2900 Exploitation 
Techniques seminars which went global. “
      * * * * * * * *
“ Richard Dean was for many years my manager, 
my teacher, my mentor and, most of all, my friend.  

Above all, he was one of ICL’s characters.  Despite
claiming that he had little technical knowledge, he 
had an unnerving habit of being right in the various 
judgements that he made – not always popular with 
the authorities but always made fearlessly.  

We are all the better for having known him.  And all 
the poorer for his passing.”
      * * * * * * * *
" One of those who made ICL what it was, when it 
was Great. may he rest in peace and rise in Glory "
      * * * * * * * *
Richard's Funeral will be on Wednesday the 18th of
Decemeber at 13:15. the venue is St Giles Church, 
Park Lane, Ashtead, KT21 1EJ. Refreshments in the 
Adjacent church hall with tea/coffe available before 
hand for anybody arriving early. The Family requests
that no flowers are sent, at this sad time. 

Reported by Richard's Wife Pat and Dik Leatherdale 

Dennis Died in August 2019 age 90 :-
He joined the British Tabulating Machine Company in 
1944 as an office boy as he was only 14 years old.
When he turned 15 he was trained as a Punch Mechanic 
and he worked at the Bank of England and also on a 
Bombe installation at Eastcotes.

He retired from ICL in 1992 and his  Funeral is on 
the 12th of September at Chiltern, Crematorium, 
Whielden Lane, Amersham, HP7 0ND at 1:45pm. 

Flowers by family, all others donations to either 
Dementia UK or Alzheimer's Society please. The wake 
is yet to be confirmed, but hoping it will be at 
Royal British Legion, 91 Woodside Road, 
Amersham, HP6 6AL

All welcome please let us know all that are 
attending, just so we can get some idea of numbers. 

Reported by his Son :- paulseacombe@hotmail.com

Arthur Draper, passed away on Sunday the 4th August, 
aged 92. He joined BTM from school aged 14 in 1941. 

And stayed with the Company, including his time in 
the REME, during his National Service as an 
electrical engineer. Taking his Retirement in 1985, 
having attained his Double Majority in 1983 whilst 
working for the Company as a Production Planning 
and Control Manager in 1/3 Factory 

His Children remember Christmas parties in the 
1/3 factory Canteen in the 60’s and 70’s including 
the slot car racing club. 

His funeral is to take place at Glynn Valley 
Crematorium, Turfdown Road, Fletchers Bridge, 
Bodmin, Cornwall PL30 4AP at 11:30 on Friday 
30th August.

Reported by his Son :- 
Bob Draper 

John passed away peacefully on 16th May in St. 
Catherine's Nursing Home Letchworth aged 94. 
John, and his brother Frank, worked in India during 
the war with the Bletchley Bombe, as built by their 
father Harold 'Doc' Keen, and then later for ICT and 
ICL. He is survived by his wife of 70 years Yvonne, 
son Nicholas and granddaughters Hannah and Laura. 

A service of Thanksgiving will be held at 12.30pm on 
Thursday 6th June at All Saints Church Willian. 
No Flowers. Donations if desired to Dementia UK

Reported by :-  his fellow Pensioner's

We have been informed of the passing of Bob Coe, at the 
age of 73 . Bob worked for ICL - Fujitsu and was Pensions 
Manager from 1991 to 2002. 
 
So Bob was around in the days of the original ICL 
pension.

Bob’s Funeral will be on Friday 31 May at noon in 
Bradfield, Essex CO11 2US.

Reported by :-
Simon Wardrobe 

Jim Mainwaring sadly passed away on Monday 6th 
May :- 

Jim was highly respected and held a number of roles 
in ICL, one of his last being in charge of the 
Service Reps based in Warrington.

Jim’s funeral will be on Monday, 10th June at 1pm.
 
The service will be held at St Wilfred’s Church, 
Church Lane, Grappenhall, Warrington, WA4 3EP.

Reported By :- Ray Roberts

Larry Costello sadly passed away on the 5 March 2019, 
his funeral will be held on Tuesday 26th March at 
Warrington Lea Crematorium, Chester Road, Warrington 
WA4 6TB.

Larry was a senior manager in customer engineering
having  joined the company in the 50’s from (I think) 
Marconi. Larry’s activities were mostly focussed around 
the North and Midlands Region.

Larry leaves a Family of his Wife, Joan,
two daughters, Janet,Sue along with two grand children.
Our thoughts are with his family at this time.

Reported By :- Don Dempsey 

I regret to inform you all that R J (Spud) Taylor passed 
away on March 7th.  His son, Richard, has distributed
the following details:-
“A ‘Memorial Service’ will be held at 12:15 on Thursday 
21st of March at: Memorial Woodlands, Earthcott Green,
Alveston, nr Thornbury,  Bristol BS35 3TA 
(01454 414 999 – www.memorialwoodlands.com).

Tea & Coffee will be available on arrival from 11:45. 
The service will then be followed by a lunch & drinks in 
the reception rooms on site  which everyone is welcome to 
stay for.

No flowers please but any donations, if wished, will be 
split between: Sir Samuel Baker School, Gulu in Northern
Uganda & the Day Dementia Unit at Ysbyty Bryn Beryl, 
Pwllheli. 

These projects have been chosen, Spud visited and was a
supporter and fund raiser for the Samuel Baker School over 
a number of years & was a beneficiary of the fabulous day
support provided at Bryn Beryl and would like others to 
have the same opportunity.

If anybody would like to write to Hilary then please 
send these care of myself to Richard Taylor, 
5 St Ronans Avenue, Bristol BS6 6EP.
Would those who plan to attend please let Tony Williams 
know:-  a.j.williams@sky.com

Reported By :-  David Lovegrove

Web masters note :- any students of the ICL Anthologies 
can read about the interesting life of SPUD in a item 
titled :-Tales from Holborn Bar, c, 1975 on  page 138 
of Volume One of ICL ANTHOLOGIES by Hamish Carmichael ! 
A copy of the book, as a PDF document, is held on this website.

Kay Baker sadly died in late 23/24 February 2019 at the age
of 77. 

Working for ICL in Letchworth, Putney and after in Northern
Telecom, Kay's life was well spent in a social and travel
sense.

Kay enjoyed travel, and she and her husband Derek owned 
time-share properties in various parts of Europe. She was a
great social hostess and was part of several dinner groups 
and of a women’s lunch club in Luton.  

Her pride and joy for some years was a Jaguar XK8 convertible,
which she found was just to her liking. However her love of a
short game of golf came a close second in her priorities.

*** UPDATE ***
The Funeral for Kay will be held Thursday 14th of March at
4pm at the Holwell Crematorium Bedford Road, Hitchin,SG5 3RT.
With a celebration of Kays life at the Chesfield Downs Golf
Club, Jacks Hill, Graveley, SG4 7EQ. 

Family Flowers Only, Donations to Garden House Hospice.
Please let Don Beattie know if you wish
to attend on email :- g3bj.don@gmail.com

Supplied by David Lovegrove. 

An extended Obituary link follows:-

We have just have heard from Doug Comish that Mike Forest has
passed away. He died January 16th aged 87.

Mike was an ICL Force " To be Reckoned With ", however Roger 
Cooper has provided this quote "but was a lovely bloke in private.
I'm proud, and grateful, to have had him as a mentor."

And as many will recall, he was a " Force " in many of our lives. 

Anyone who wishes to add more to this Short Obituary please 
use the Bits and Bytes website to add information for all to
share.

The Funeral will be held February the 6th at noon, at 
Reading Crematorium, West Chapel, Reading RG4 5LP 

Reported by :- David Lovegrove 

The news had reached us of the passing of Richard Sheppard.
Richard was a stalwart supporter of the London Team of 
retired ICL staff and without a blink he stepped into that
role when we lost Bill Williams a few years ago.

Richard had a varied career in ICL and moved between many
sections of the company, as such he had an insight into the
workings of many of the company mechanisms and was always 
keen to advise the retired community about the right way to
appraoch problems. 

Sadly Richard developed Oesophegeal Cancer, and despite a
calm acceptance of the Chemo and Surgery he had to endure,
his family advise us that the sense of humour which he was
well known for endured through the worst of these times.

An open hearted man with a belief that people mattered, we
along with his family, will miss Richard deeply.

His family have arranged many ways to remember Richard
so please contact B'n'B if you would like to know more about
these arrangements. 

Reported by his family :- Bobbie,Joe and Olivia   

 The following observations ware penned by Dave Churchman when he 
discovered that Dick had passed on :-

Dick was assigned as my ICL Guardian, along with others, when 
the Croydon Factory closed. And I learned much from him, during 
his two year guardianship. Including  the basics of opening a   
bank account, how to wear a dapper suit and much more. Whilst he 
gave mentoring to we, his very young apprentices. He had a heck 
of a positive influence on our careers.  

News has reached us of the passing of Bill who was
born 11th January 1929 and died  1st July 2018.

He joined BTM 3rd July 1950 and worked in the Demo 
Room in Park Lane, thereafter his career was overseas 
starting in the Caribbean, then Aden, Kuwait, Egypt, 
Aden, Nigeria, Ghana, Malta, back to UK at Cookham 
for 3 years then Tanzania, Mauritius and East Africa 
for 3 years returning to UK in 1978.
He left the Company in 1982.

The funeral will be held at Woking Crematorium on 
August 7th at 2pm and afterwards at the Nag’s Head 
close by.
 
Anyone planning to attend should let Vince know:- 
vbodsworth@sqltechnologies.co.uk

Reported by David Lovegrove and Vince Bodsworth.

We are advised of the Death of Holly Henry Black 

Holly Henry Black, a pensioner in the Nortel Fund, died in North 
Fort Myers Florida on 13th July 2018 shortly after reaching the 
age of 70. 

As Henry Black he began his association with ICL Dataskil 
in 1974 working as a freelance programmer based in Cheshire. 
Postings included the Kuwait Oil Company in Ahmadi. Later he 
joined the permanent payroll. Assignments included a period 
working on Singer equipment in Utica, USA. After leaving the 
company in 1982 he settled in California where his special 
skills helped to justify a Green Card and dual nationality.
 
He played a part in some enterprises during the 
“dot-com bubble” around 2000 but a paper fortune of 
holdings evaporated during the crash that followed. 

He was one of the early graduates from the Open University. a 
licensed radio amateur “Ham” and competent micro-electronics
enthusiast. 

In later life he studied Law and was accredited as a Patent 
Agent with the US Patent Office. 

Holly is survived by siblings in the UK and a son in 
California. 
Reported by john.shute

It is with sadness we report the death of Peter Smith.

Peter Died on Wednesday 15th July 2018. after his 
fight with Prostrate Cancer,

Peter was a long time supporter of the Ashtead 
Residents' Association, as well as a Govenour 
of the West Astead School.

Peter was active on several committees, was an 
independent Councillor,  as well as being active 
in the Ramblers.  Peter also found time to be a 
trustee of Epsom “Age Concern” . 

So Peter has made a difference in the world and 
did so with Vigour and drive.

The funeral service will be held next Tuesday, 
17th July at 4.15pm at Randalls Road Crematorium. 
There will be Celebration of Peter's Life later 
in August at the Epsom Hockey Club..

Reported By :- David Lovegrove from information 
supplied by Larry Unthank who was Chairman of the ARA.

Sadness at the death  of Derek Jolly  ( Leo Tribute )   

It is with great sadness that we heard this week of the
death  of Derek Jolly. Derek was a regular attendee of
Reunions and he was a popular member of the "LEO family".

LEO people would be welcome to attend the funeral. Below 
is the message from Derek's widow Ann.

His funeral is on Friday 18th July, 1pm, at Holy 
Trinity Church Rayleigh SS6 8BB.
Reported by , Ann Jolly 

News of the passing of Peter Harbour,

Peter passed away on the 27th May 2018 
Peter Harbours niece advised us that he died on the 
27th May after a short illness.

He had lots of friends who i’m sure would like to know.

Peter was a steadying influence on any situation, and due 
consideration was given over a cup of tea whilst he thought 
his way towards the ultimate solution, time and time again.

He will be sorely missed by his friends 

The funeral is at Holy Trinity Church, Rudgwick Sussex, 
RH12 3EB on Thursday 14th June at 12 noon.

Reported by Ted Hewson.

In memory of George William McLeman
 
George William McLeman died on 11 June 2018 aged 82.
 
George was a Project Manager with Dataskil when I 
first met him in 1979.
After Dataskil was disbanded by Rob Wilmot I don’t 
know which part of the organisation he became part 
of, but he worked as a Project Manager on many 
customer sites including the Stock Exchange.
 
There will be a private cremation followed by a 
Celebration of his Life at the Goring and 
Streatley Golf Club on Monday 25 June at 13:00.

Reported by 
Adrian Turner 

I am sorry to let you all know of the passing of Jan Woolston
I have heard from Mame, his wife, that Jan passed away in 
the early hours of Saturday 31st March after a long battle 
with cancer. His last 2 weeks were spent in hospital resulting 
from a fall, Jan was 71 when he passed on. 
 
Jan’s funeral is to be held on Tuesday 17 April at 13.20 in the 
South Chapel of the South Essex Crematorium, Corbets 
Tey, Ockendon Road, Upminster RM14 2UY.
 
Afterwards, at The Cranleigh Restaurant, 84 Station Lane, 
Hornchurch RM12 6LX.
 
Jan's career in ICL and Fujitsu spanned Local Government 
and Defence Systems including DESC. Your Webmaster remembers 
meetings with Jan at Winnersh office where much planning was done.

Mame has asked me to be the contact for further information or 
your intention to attend the funeral. 

Please contact me at the e-mail address,
peterosborneuk@aol.com,  
or phone number 07867523204.

Reported by :- Peter Osborne

We are advised of the passing of Christopher Copplestone

Christopher was an ICL service engineer from 1958 
to 1988 He passed away on Thursday the 22nd March 
aged 86 at knights court home , Edgware Middlesex

He had been ill for a long time having to cope with 
type 2 diabetes and had suffered a mild heart attack 
and was also recovering from a broken hip.

His funeral is arranged on the 16th April, 10am, 
breakspear park crematorium

Reported by his Son Mr Andrew Copplestone.

Sad news received today from Maureen Cook :-

I am sorry to tell you that Brian Cook passed 
away peacefully at Queen Elizabeth Park Nursing 
Home on Thursday 15th February,  he was 80 
years old.

 His funeral will take place at 11.00am on Tuesday 
13th March at St Pius X Church Merrow.When Brian & 
I worked together we were mostly in Bridge House 
South or Computer House Euston (LON 24). It was on 
our response to IBM’s E series launch in 1979.  
He was great to work with – funny, inspirational 
and very effective.  ICL had nothing of real 
substance to answer the E series game changer 
with but a positive promotion to the UK sales 
force produced a tremendous result and Brian was 
the main architect.  

He was an ICL-er of the very highest order.

Best wishes, Mark Bristow
If you plan to attend the funeral would you let 
Mark know please by emailing:-mark.bristow8@gmail.com
Reported by Mark Bristow and David Lovegrove:-

News of the passing of John Vinden :-

I've just had a look at the Sandbach Rugby website, 
who John Vinden used to play for.  
It states "The funeral will be on Friday 16th 
February 3pm at St Mary's Church Astbury.  
Followed by a Wake at Astbury Village Hall." 

The family have requested no flowers, and any 
donations will go to “Riding for the Disabled” 
where Becky volunteers in Singapore.
Reported by Howard Palin.

We have received news of the passing of Jack Riley :-

Jack passed away on 31st Jan 2018, after a fight with a 
heart condition, His Family looked after Jack at home and 
was helped with care from St Christophers Hospice. 

His wife Brenda |( also a Company member ) and his family 
would like all to know that a service will be held on the 23rd 
of February at 15:45 Hours. 
Venue = Beckenham Crematorium BR3 4TD.

After his time in the RAF, Jack followed his father into the 
Company and along with his brother Bob, stayed the course for 
43 Years. A well known and respected man who would always 
express his opinion, preferably over a good pint of Ale.

Anyone who knew Jack will know we have lost a stout 
fellow Pensioner, and a very good friend, who your 
webmaster was proud to have worked alongside 
many times in our working life.

Reported by His Wife Brenda, Roger Cooper and David Lovegrove

Charles Hughes has sent sad news about Harry Lloyd

I am sad to pass on the news that Harry Lloyd died on the 8th 
of January.Many colleagues will remember Harry from ICL Computer
House (Lon 24) – GPCD, Universities, Health etc.  He and his wife
Erika lived in Pangbourne, West Berkshire for many years and at 
the end of 2017 moved to Bristol where their two sons live.  

Harry was suffering from cancer, was taken into hospital and 
died shortly thereafter. The funeral will be held on 
Friday 09 February 2018 at 2:30 PM.

The location is Canford Crematorium, Canford Lane, 
Westbury on Trym, Bristol, BS9 3PQ

After the funeral there will be refreshments at Audley Redwood, 
Redwood Hall, 20 Redwood Drive, Failand, Bristol BS8 3DU
Could you please email Anna690lloyd@btinternet.com if you are 
able to attend so that we can confirm numbers for the 
crematorium and the wake.

Reported by :- David Lovegrove and Charles Hughes 

 An announcement of the passing of Peter Long 2108/01/29

 Last Friday I received the following message from Andrew Mayo :-
Some of you will know that Peter has battled - bravely and
 so  positively - lymphoid leukemia for the last 18 months. 
I am extremely sad to tell you that this afternoon the 
battle was lost and Peter passed away. Please do pass on 
this news to your contacts where relevant and if any 
would like notification of the memorial arrangements I 
will forward when available
Peter was HR DIrector for ICL Sorbus in the late nineties. 
and a wonderful colleague.
Funeral details to follow
Reported By Andrew Mayo and David Lovegrove.

Colin Lewry 

It is with sadness that we announce Colin's passing on the
21st September 2017.

The funeral is on October the 16th at Kingston Crematorium
at 13:40 hrs. 

The passing of Colin was advised by his daughter Ann Simm.
Should any work friends wish to attend please email bits and 
bytes and we will forward any details to Ann for you.

Sad news on the Passing of Roger Crump

Roger Crump, who worked at ICL Letchworth and Stevenage
up until the early-mid 90s, passed away on 12th September
 2017 at the age of 71.

He graduated from Manchester Uni in 1968 and worked 
in ICL until he left the company in the mid 90's. 
Retiring from work in 2004 he entered the Care and 
Volunteer community around Sheffield.

He often spoke fondly of his time at ICL, and the 
friends that he made there. However he stayed active 
and was in fact, helping out at a charity shop at the 
time he collapsed. We share this news in the hope that 
anyone can recall times with Roger Crump.

             *** update *** 
Roger's funeral will take place at 13:45 on Thursday
the 12th of October 2017, at City Road, Crematorium
Sheffield S2 1GD.

Information supplied by his daughter, Amanda Field

Alan Eastaff

We have just heard of the passing of Alan Eastaff 
His funeral details are as follows :- Monday 18th
September  at  13.45 hrs
Howbridge Crematorium Lovers Lane
Wigan M46 0PZ 

Hamish Carmichael

The sad news for all who knew him is that 
Hamish Carmichael, has passed away, on the 19th of July
just a few short weeks after his 83rd Birthday, ending 
his long fight with Cancer.

Just about everybody he met, thought Hamish Carmichael 
was a complete gentleman, and all of those people were 
right. After serving in the navy Hamish moved to the 
world of Data Processing in 1958 and was trained by 
Headley White in the Powers Samas offices in Holborn. 
In common with all of us who did the same thing, Hamish 
was soon programming company systems and driving 
projects out of Putney and Stevenage. 

Hamish's Military bearing and classically educated wit 
was very evident when he guided tours round the Putney 
demonstration area. These qualities stayed with him 
in later life and are now enshrined in his two volumes 
entitled ICL Anthologies, which he has allowed to be 
freely available on specific web sites. 

Anyone who attended one of his lectures would also 
find that same sense of humour very evident in his talk. 
His skills on the Guitar were also renown if you could 
get him to play for you. 

A family man, he leaves not only his family behind 
but some very close friends who he had settled down 
with in the later end of his life. All of these people
will miss him very deeply, as will all of us who were 
privileged to have known him and shared his good company.

The last word here must be from Hamish himself and 
I quote his own words about his Career with the 
company. " When I retired from the Company in 1994,
I had enjoyed 36 exhilarating years of interesting 
work and fun ". Well done Hamish we agree with every 
word you said.

We who remain after him are keen to inform anyone who 
may have worked with him, specifically in Winnersh that
this event to say goodbye to Hamish is planned as follows. 

Funeral details for the southern area are 12:00 hrs at 
Eltham Cremtorium on the 11th of August 2017, a reception 
is planned and details will be published here soon. 

Sad news about the Passing of John Brown,

John died aged 83 a week ago, on 15 April, after 
prolonged ill health. 
 
His ICL career started in 1967 and continued, I 
think into the 1990s.  Apart from saying that he 
worked at Lily Hill and Lovelace Road in Bracknell 
and at various sites in Reading I have little 
information about his projects – but he did work 
with/for Basil Cousins at one point and on the 
development of One Per Desk.  

I think there was also some MoD involvement , 
perhaps at Northwood.

Reported by his brother, David Brown.
 

It is the saddest duty of this webmaster to report
the passing of Rita Brown 1938/10/09 to 2017/04/10.

Rita Nash joined ICT early in 1960's and entered 
the company with a knowledge of handling punched 
card equipment, gained from her time at the Kuwait
Oil Company. She was quickly spotted by the magical 
leader of the newly formed Demo Group who operated 
and demonstrated new equipment to potential clients 
at the Putney HQ.

Working with such people as  Edwina McCombe, Pat 
Chandler and Marion Harlow the team were a focal 
point in Putney for new customers.
Rita then moved on to Marketing and also Account 
support until 1993 when she retired and married your 
webmaster Rodney Brown.
 
We travelled extensively in retirement, and in 2012 
Rita was diagnosed as an Alzheimer's sufferer. The 
disease has taken its toll and five years later Rita 
was ultimately overcome by its impact on her body, 
which had diminished her weight to a mere 32 kilo's.

Rita was not a lady who ever wanted children, but she 
became the step mother of her husbands single child 
Stuart, and was a good step Grandmother to all four 
of her grandchildren.

She is sadly and deeply missed by all who were privileged 
to know her. Funeral details are:- Tuesday the 9th of May
at Beckenham Crematorium, Time 02:15 for her service and 
After at a venue in Hayes, Kent for a Celebration of her 
good works as Rita Nash and later as Rita Brown.

Reported by Rod Brown, her husband of 23 years 6 Months.

Sad news - Frank Tilly has died peacefully in Lister 
Hospital on 15th March age 94.
 
Funeral is at Harwood Park Crematorium Stevenage on 
Thursday 6th April at 3.30 p.m. Donation (no flowers) 
to RAF Benevolent Fund (Bomber Command Memorial)
 
Directors are Austin's 01462 438422 who have a 
donation Web Site. 

Matt Farrell 
 Matt, was a well-known member of the Local Authority 
Project services team when I knew him.
Matt though was a man of many parts starting off as 
a professional footballer for Sheffield Wednesday and 
then joining Dataskil in Leeds where he worked on 
system development managing teams of developers, one 
of his claims to fame was that he recruited Angela Thomas. 

During this time, he worked with people such as Liz 
Peggs in implementing the Magistrates Court System 
for East Yorkshire and then moved on to develop the 
Community Charge system.

Whilst in Project Services (based in WAK01) Matt worked 
on many projects and was always well received by our 
Clients and was well known for his wit and no nonsense 
approach.

After leaving ICL Matt worked for a short period with 
IBM. Just recently we have been meeting with him and 
were able to re- live some of the good times that we 
spent together.

Our thoughts go out to Matt's family.
Clive Bramley and John Mann

James (Jim) Sylvester Moraghan 

Sadly, Jim passed away on 25th September 2016 aged 79 
due to complications resulting from heart surgery carried 
out 4 days earlier. This outcome was unexpected as the 
surgery wasn't the result of trauma but rather to improve 
Jim’s long term quality of life and survivability. 

Jim was born in Ireland on 2nd July 1937. He was married 
to Jill and the devoted couple subsequently adopted their 
beloved son Andrew. Jill sadly died from cancer many years 
ago. 
Between 1956 and 1959, Jim undertook and completed a 
full-time course in Electrical and Electronic Engineering 
at Dublin College of Technology, achieving I.E.E Examination 
parts 1, 2 and 3. In March 1959, Jim joined GEC Telephone 
Division at Coventry as a Test Engineer then, in November 
1959, he joined the Computer Division of EMI in Hayes, 
Middlesex. In 1963, EMI Computer Division became part 
of ICT and Jim transferred to ICT Stevenage (STE04). 
He and Jill relocated to Royston, Cambridgeshire, and 
subsequently to the market town of St Neots, 
Cambridgeshire.

Between 1963 and 1970, Jim was involved in peripheral 
development for the 1900 series. 
In 1970 Jim joined the newly formed Special Systems 
Division (SSD), headed by George Roberts, at STE04. 
SSD later relocated to LET06 (No.3 Factory Letchworth) 
and became Letchworth Development Centre (LDC). LDC was
 responsible for the design and development of equipment
 and facilities to enable users to connect non-standard 
(or non-ICL) devices to ICL product range. In 1973, Jim 
was promoted to Senior Engineer. 
 LDC subsequently became Network Development Centre (NDC). 
Jim worked on many key developments and was a first-class 
designer. On the closure of NDC he continued with excellent 
work at Local Premises Business Centre (LPBC) at STE09.

Between 1970 and 1982, Jim was involved in many projects 
including specification, design and commissioning for the 
7015 Remote Job Entry terminal (became product line); 
interface adaptors for alien map-reading digitisers to 
connect to 7905 for MoD at MCE (Mapping & Charting 
Establishment, Feltham); 

co-designer of the fetch-on-the-fly Retrieval Unit for 
CAFS (Content Addressable File store) that became product 
line; H/W design of microprocessor based modules. 

In 1982 Jim became a Chartered Engineer following 
successful application and registration as a member 
of the I.E.E (now the I.E.T). 

Jim subsequently took on a varied quality management 
role from around 1982 onwards on various projects including 
the NATS (National Air Traffic System).
In 2002 ICL became part of Fujitsu Service. On reaching 
65 in July 2002, Jim took well-deserved retirement, 
completing a long career of 43 years in the computer 
industry.
Jim was very professional and competent in all his 
activities. He was much respected and a true gentleman. 
He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.
Roger Chick (ICT/ICL1966-2002 )

Dave Nickson,
It was with much sadness that I learned of Dave’s passing 
from his daughter. Although he was not a well man in recent 
years it still came a shock since was only recently that I 
was Skyping with him.
It is always difficult to try to summarise a person’s life 
in a few sentences especially someone as accomplished and 
well liked as Dave .
His tales of working in Moscow and introducing flares 
into the city are legendary, this was matched by Dave’s 
wicked sense of humour which stayed with him to the end.
Dave was a great Project Manager working on many projects 
such as Merseyside Fire Brigade where he introduced the 
Client to the world of Gantt charts. My lasting memory 
of Dave was seeing him programming a Calcomp printer to 
produce yards if not miles of a Gantt chart and then 
covering a wall in the Arndale centre with it .

He was a true professional and his attention for detail 
was unsurpassed, he was one of a few PM’s that qualified 
for the Prince accreditation and his filing systems were 
amazing and he helped me greatly in getting many of my 
projects compliant with the Prince methodology .Although 
based in Man12 Dave covered projects in Edi 04 , Wak01 , 
Leeds .

Dave also was a founder member of the “Old Buggas” 
Dave was a great guy and I am pleased to be able to call
 him my friend.
John Mann

Alexander Burns. Passed away at home on Sunday 8 
January 2017 aged 77 years Funeral Service to be held 
at St Peter and St Paul Church Checkendon on Wednesday 
25 January 2017 at 11:00.

Flowers welcome. Donations in memory of Alex to Macmillan 
via www.abwalker.co.uk . All enquiries to A B Walker 
Blythe House 158 Reading Road, Henley-on-Thames, RG9 1EA 
Tele: 01491 413434.
 
Alec, as I knew him, was an operator at Putney back 
in the days of the ICT1500/RCA301 when I worked from FEHQ 
supporting the hardware.

He then came to Dataskil in Reading, and we I met him 
again in 1978 when he interviewed me for the job as Admin 
Manager at Dataskil System Centre REA04 in Cardiff Road 
Reading. We realised immediately that we knew each other 
from the early  60s.

We got to know his family, Denise, Richard and Jo very well 
and visited each other’s homes, celebrating Christmas together. 
We played cards and other games after meals. My wife and I 
played in the Dataskil crib team in various Reading pubs and 
clubs with Alec and Denise.

Richard was very interested in cars and at a very early 
age said he wanted to be a rally driver. Alec encouraged 
him by allowing him to drive his car in their very big 
garden in Checkendon, and also at race tracks like Castle 
Coombe. As work driver for Subaru he became World Rally 
Champion in 2001.

After DSC Alec went to the AA in Basingstoke and we lost 
touch with each other. Denise died as a result of a brain 
tumour in 2004 and Richard died from a similar condition 
almost a year later.

Sadly missed by his workmates and fellow Pensioners.
Reported by Adrian Turner.
 

Bill(Robin)Williams:-
It is with deep regret that these pages carry the 
announcement of the passing of our friend Bill 
(Robin) Williams on the very last day of December 
in 2016.

Bill was an RAF man and spent some of his service 
time in RAF Squadron No 256 which flew meteors from 
RAF Ahlhorn which was a former Luftwaffe base in 
Germany and when taken over by the RAF it hosted 
this Squadron from November 1952 to February 1958
This was the home of the Gloucester Meteor, a very
early twin engined jet and ground breaking British 
Technology.

When Bill left the RAF he joined ICT and discovered 
a close community of ex service staff and a very 
sociable group who were very focused on delivering 
service to the customers under sometimes extreme 
conditions around the clock. 

Bill found lifelong friends within this group and 
progressed across all the current ranges of ICT/ICL 
machines including 1900's, 2903, ME29's and Series 
39. However he continued to study his German in his 
time off.

Bill was known to all of the London engineering staff, 
whilst we went home to our families Bill would be out 
doing his bit for the staff. This was due partly to 
Bill having the time to do this Staff and later Union 
Representative roles, but was also a sign of 
his dedication to the task as a firm and clear voice 
for his fellow engineers. 

Even in retirement Bill was the first to offer 
his services as a Pensioner's Representative and 
continued to be a voice of the all of the pensioners 
whilst organising the twice a year re-unions for the 
London team. 

And this he kept up until the start of his illness, 
which began with a bout of ill health which in turn 
led to Pneumonia, and this, in turn returned many 
times during 2016, each bout robbing him of more 
strength and resilience. Bill spent a lot of time 
in UCH London and received very focused care.

Our thoughts now have to be in mutual memory of Bill, 
his determination to care for his fellow engineers 
and now forever with his Brother in Law and his 
family in Wales, now bill has passed on and left us.

Sadly Missed by all, RIP Robin Williams

A Tribute to Dick Allison :-
Remembering Dick Allison :-  A Compilation of his friend's 
recollections by Trefor Busby.

Last year we lost one of the giants of ICL Tech Support - 
a small man who cast a huge shadow!

Several of us who were lucky enough to enjoy his company over 
the years have combined our favourite memories of Dick to
produce this short tribute.   
 
Oh how we miss that raucous laugh of his ringing out – 
he brightened any room!

Rumour has it that many years ago Dick trained as a 
Lighterman on the Thames, although this career was 
severely limited when his barge hit a bridge!  

So he moved on to Computers – where some of his old 
skills were useful – he was well known for 
‘vibration testing’ 2980s with a plank of wood!  

Bob McLeod knew Dick for over 50 years.- they both 
worked for Derek Caston on the 1902, Dick had previously
 worked on the EMIDEC.  Then came the 1900s, then the 
2900 P Series where Dick managed a Tech Support team, 
later the Series 39.  

Dick had such a competitive nature that he would never 
accept defeat – whether playing cards fixing a hardware 
fault or running marathons, or involved in a static rowing
 race in the gym. He just would not admit defeat!   

Engineers watched in amazement as he spent hours lying 
across the top of the 1907 machine at Southampton U  - 
very gently separating the fixed wiring thro’ the 
magnetic cores of the memory bank.   Took him hours - 
but it worked!   

Another amazing sight (years later) was Dick, with a 
broken collar bone, practising one armed press-ups in 
the gym – on his ‘bad’ arm - the broken bone jutting 
out of his shoulder at every push – but he just carried 
on!

He was a great fan of water skiing and trained his 
daughters to drive his speed boat. His boats/engines 
were the same as his pals - but his always seemed that 
bit faster   Later he switched to windsurfing and even
competed in an event sailingaround Hayling Island 
called Surfers against Sewage!   

Then he took up horse riding and had trips across 
Dartmoor.   As the years took their toll on his 
running legs he switched to cycling – still competing 
with anyone who dared!

Many of the tech support fraternity remember Dick 
for his unique management style.   Your phone rings at 
0300 and there’s Dick on the line: “There’s a problem 
at Acme Soap Works”.

Then – silence..........after waiting and waiting,,,, 
you felt obliged to chip in with 

“Er, shall I go there Dick”.  ”Yes, thanks”, end of call.
  Off you went - only later did you realise that once 
again he’d got you to volunteer without him asking!

After retirement Dick slowly sank into the sad and 
lonely world of dementia  - his wonderful laugh was not 
heard again.  He passed away last October (2016) 
and is sadly missed by his family and old colleagues.
 
Thanks to Bob McLeod, Alan Watson, Les Rollinson and 
Derek Bibby for sharing their memories with us.   

Yea , we miss him greatly, as a friend, colleague
and great all rounder.  
One of a kind!

Trefor Busby
 

Vicki Stewart (formerly Measom) passed away on 
Monday 4th July 2016, aged 65, after a long battle against 
cancer.

 She was a Quality Manager nominally based at home (HOM99) 
although the unit she worked for was based in Bracknell.

For her funeral we have requested family flowers only, with 
an option to make donations to LOROS, the hospice where she
spent her final few days.

The notice of her death and an online giving page (for 
donations etc.) are both available on the Funeral Directors’ 
Website www.jstampandsons.co.uk.

There are two obvious buttons at the top of the page, and each 
shows a scrollable list.
Vicki’s funeral will be on Thursday 21st July 2016.
 
If any former colleagues and friends would like to attend, 
could they please contact Richard Stewart by phone on 
07717 049425. This is so that I can confirm numbers, and 
also supply directions/best places to park etc., as Narborough 
is a relatively small village.

The above as reported to Bits and Bytes.

We have just found out about the Loss of Jerry Chatten.
Who I am sorry to say passed on and was laid away
many weeks ago. 

Jerry worked for the Government Section based at Victoria 
House in the mid 1950's where he ran the  Customer Bureau 
along with engineer Nigel Everson. The monthly repair reports 
were produced on the Mark Sensing machines ( anyone 
remember them ?) on the 6th Floor.

The West Central Area Office , under John Brooks,was based 
on the 5th Floor where field engineering was administered from.

Jerry was quite forthright in his  political views, and was one of 
the engineers to be part of the first country wide strike action 
ever to take place in ICT. 

He was later involved in the early days of Computers, operating 
out of senate house in the University complex.

Jerry was a popular London engineer, and always happy
to stop and chat if you met him at work or out of hours.
An item of note about Jerry was that he always kept a 
record of important information, the usual problem for Jerry
was just where that note was kept, was it in his pockets ? 
or in his to filing system  which he carried with him.

We record here the loss of a gentlemen and fellow engineer !
Reported by Bob Tuckett. and detailed by Martyn Best.

Sad news about Alan Pound.

Alan was a Salesman with Local Govt,  Alan left Fujitsu 
about five years ago to take up a post as a maths teacher 
in his home town of Merthyr Tydfil. 

Sadly he passed away on 8th March 2016 after a short 
fight with cancer.Cremation was at Merthyr Tydfil on 
24th March

News supplied by Roger Coope

We have received the following sad news about Frank Pigott:-

Maxine wishes to update the Bits and Bytes Repository for 
Pensioners that Frank Pigott sadly died on the 26 
February 2016 in Bexhill on Sea East Sussex, he was aged 94.  

He suffered with dementia in the latter years of his life 
and was cared for by his wife Vera Pigott.  He leaves Vera,
Diane and Christine his daughters and Maxine, Dominic and
 Xander his grandchildren. 
 
His funeral is on the 11 February 2016 at the Eastbourne 
Crematorium at 3pm, we are accepting flowers.
Anyone wishing to arrange delivery of flowers should contact 
the funeral parlour on :-  01424 218704

29 Ninfield Road,
Sidley,
Bexhill-On-Sea 
TN39 5AE

Reported by Maxine Fifield, who is interested in any stories
or information from the rest of the pensioners about their
 memories of our friend Frank. Please forward any details to
 the web site and we will ensure they reach the family.


We have recieved the following sad news about Eddie Dawkins.

For those of you who knew and worked with Eddie Dawkins at 
ICL, I just wanted to let you know the news that my Dad sadly 
passed away recently after a short battle with cancer.
 
Dad had turned 80 last May and had always been fit and 
healthy but become very unwell in the autumn with myeloma. 
He was responding very well to chemotherapy treatment and 
was home for 4 weeks in November before being re-admitted 
to hospital mid December with a chest infection. 
Unfortunately lung cancer was diagnosed just before Christmas 
and he passed away last Sunday.

The funeral will be held on Wednesday 27th January with a 
church service in Staplehurst, Kent followed by the committal 
at Vinters Park Crematorium, Maidstone. If you did know Eddie 
and would like to join us at his funeral you will be very 
welcome - please contact me via email or on 07817 856957 
and I will be able to let you know the precise arrangements.

Reported by his Son :- Mark Dawkins 


Peter Brown's Cremation

Dear Adrian.
My father's cremation details are as follows: 
Friday 27 November at 1045 at Kent and Sussex Cematorium, 
Benhall Mill Road, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN2 5JJ. 

If anyone would like to send flowers we would prefer a 
donation to the Royal Naval Benevolent Trust, 
Tel 02392 690112, email rnbt@rnbt.org.uk.

It was lovely talking to you and thank you so much for 
including this in your newsletter. 

Kind regards
Lorraine Hersbach




News has reached us of the passing of John Lock. 
A well remembered and popular member of the engineering 
community who many will remember. He passed away on 
Monday the 27th of July. 

The funeral will be held at the Amber Valley Memorial 
Park and Crematorium at 3 pm on Monday 10 August 2015. 
The address is: 
Derby Road, Swanwick, Derbyshire, DE55 1BH 
He is survived by his wife, Dorothy, his sons, Ian and 
Howard, and his grandson, Alastair. 

our thoughts are with the family at this Time




ICL Colleagues:-
News of the passing away of George Lynn, 
Repoted by Bill Wood.
 
George has passed away after a long fight with mobility 
and memory problems which limited his ability to enjoy 
his allotment.

The Funeral arrangements were:-  
Monday 29th June - 3.15pm at Christ Church, 
Eccleston and 4.00pm at St. Helens Crematorium

Regards, 
Bill



Some very sad news; Peter Havard died peacefully at his
daughter’s house last night, a few of you will have known 
or worked with Peter so I’m sure you’ll join me in 
remembering his passing.
 
For those that didn’t know Peter; he worked for many 
years at ICL in Dalkeith, Kidsgrove then in Manchester 
(MAN05) until his well-earned retirement in 1995. He 
was an absolute gentleman, a man of great merit in 
many ways – astonishing intelligence, steadfastly 
religious but not in a proselytising way, very patient 
and a fined-tuned wit. He was also my mentor and 
Father-in-Law for 13 years.
 
The funeral arrangements are not yet finalised but 
the service is highly likely to be in Alderley Edge. 
Please let me know if you wish to have the details once 
confirmed.
 
Regards,

John Manning
Business & Application Services
Fujitsu

*** UPDATE ***
If you are attending Peter Havard's funeral, please let 
John Manning know via john@soto.me.uk



Dear Sir,
It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our 
father, John Arthur William Dalton, on 16/04/2015 following 
an 18 month battle with cancer of the lung and bladder. He 
greatly missed our mother who died 2 years ago and took a 
turn for the worse after his chemo-therapy treatment did 
not slow the cancer down but rather accelerated it.
 
John Dalton started work at ICT, 250 Purley Way, Croydon 
in 1961 and worked for ICL/Fujitsu for 33 years until 1994. 
He is most fondly remembered by colleagues in his role as 
Head of MBO in Worsley Bridge Road, Lower Sydenham; he 
also had spells at Putney and Stevenage.
 
Perhaps our father's proudest achievement at ICL was 
when he received his Cheif Executive's Award for 
Excellance at an awards dinner in Paris - my parent's 
stay at the Hotel Georges V remained long in their memory.

Beloved Husband, Father, Grandfather, Brother, Friend and 
Comrade in Arms; this is to confirm details of his funeral 
and wake.The funeral will be held at 3pm on Friday, 
8th May 2015 at Surrey and Sussex Crematorium, Balcombe 
Road, Worth, Crawley, RH10 3NQ

We leave it up to the individual if they wish to send 
flowers (remembering that this is a cremation and 
interment will not be happening on the 8th) or a donation, 
or a combination of both.

Our nominated charities will be MacMillan nurses and 
St Wilfred's Hospice in Chichester, both of whom helped 
Dad in his final days. All other enquiries should be 
directed to our Funeral Directors, BC Baker & Son, 
01883 343219.

Gary, Robin and Mark Dalton.


End of current list 




See the published Bits and Bytes for earlier Obituary listings