Les West 1923-2010
My Dad passed away last night in his nursing home where he'd been for the last 6 years or so. Apologies for using this forum to announce the news but he was one of the last ATC 'characters' of the old school; of course I'm biased and memories can be selective too!
The Ministry of Aviation, the MCA, Board of Trade, CAA, NATS all had the pleasure of employing him in a job he loved doing. He never got to travel much in his ATC career (his choice), after a stint in Redhill Tower he got a posting to Heathrow Tower in the 50s (northside!), SATCC only 200 yards away, then to the 'new' Heathrow Tower about 800 yards away, CATO Uxbridge, a massive 5 miles away then back to Heathrow Tower til he retired in 1983. He never worked at West Drayton for which he was eternally grateful ha!ha!
I was about 12 when I got the ATC 'bug'. Listening to him at home sharing stories with the likes of Freddie Frost, Ted Elliot, Aubrey (Hilly) Hilliard, Jack Hollis etc, they were in stitches with laughter for most of the time. OK, it was a different world back in those days but it sounded bloody FUN!! His familiarisation flight list is extensive. I've got his reports somewhere!
I'm sounding like him now but the younger ATC generation - through no fault of their own - can't begin to realise how relatively primitive ATC was in those days; procedural separation, primary radar that failed often, the aircraft types in the 50s and 60s blah blah LOL (that's enough nostalgia! Ed).
He had standards, a sense of fair play and above all a sense of humour. He had his moments, don't we all? I'm glad I scraped through my 'O'/'A' levels (too much time 'plane spotting) to join ATC myself back in 1973 and be a part of his world first hand and continue the appreciation of how UK ATC has altered in the last 60 years; I guess you had to be there.
He's always been given honourable and affectionate mentions at Heathrow Nostalgia evenings thanks to Al Carter and Brendan McCartney (Sidney Greenstreet, "Will Les's suit ever come back into fashion", the 20 year attempts at dieting - "Les West fell over in the corridor and rocked himself to sleep trying to get up"). He passed away at the end of a first half, remember those? He'd have appreciated that irony too.
Thanks for your patience in reading this, if nothing else it's helped me gather my memories on a decent chap.
Last edited by Lobby Ludd; 8th June 2010 at 19:16.
Reason: Additional info