Tom Marshall
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Joined: Oct 2002
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From: South West England
Tom Marshall
Tom Marshall, ex Military controller, ex crew chief at West Drayton, ex Group Supervisor at LTCC died suddenly, aged 52, on Friday. Tom was a superb controller, forthright in his opinions and a fierce union negotiator. In short a character. He will be missed
RIP
RIP
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 20
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From: Sussex
Tom Marshall
What sad news.
First met Tom whilst on the "Mediocre" course, and he was on his Area Radar with Ian Jones at CATC. Bournemouth was never the same afterwards. Followed by the The Three Tuns in Staines, Stuarty, Walker et al.
Truly a loss of a great brain, and a good fellow..
Sad and shocking news, and thoughts with his partner and children.
Mont Blanc
First met Tom whilst on the "Mediocre" course, and he was on his Area Radar with Ian Jones at CATC. Bournemouth was never the same afterwards. Followed by the The Three Tuns in Staines, Stuarty, Walker et al.
Truly a loss of a great brain, and a good fellow..
Sad and shocking news, and thoughts with his partner and children.
Mont Blanc
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 178
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From: Hampshire
Heard about this also. Was on his watch for a short while at TC then swapped onto a watch that spun onto it. He also gave me good advice and I respected his integrity and viewpoints. Being a fellow Scotsman I was able to 'get' his humour while it would mostly fly over the heads of our english colleagues 
I believe though that his treatment in the not so distant past (those in the know will know what I mean) was dreadful and badly handled.
A sad loss indeed....
Spamcan
I believe though that his treatment in the not so distant past (those in the know will know what I mean) was dreadful and badly handled.
A sad loss indeed....
Spamcan
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 2,295
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From: Hants
I concur with what Spamcan says.
Tom was a great controller and a tenacious defender of the Ts&Cs through the union. A very sharp mind which was far superior in knowledge to the majority of people he worked alongside.
Not one to suffer fools gladly, Toms' only failing was that he sometimes 'let off steam' before he thought his actions through.
That said, his treatment 18 months ago was shoddy and was done by management in a bid to flex muscle and shake things up - certainly the heavy handed-ness was not managements finest hour, but unfortunately it followed a few very poor management decisions around the same time from the watch in question.
Toms' professionalism shone through the episode though and the work he did in his new role and the way he got on with his job made the difference between his integrity and the integrity of management even more visible.
RIP
Tom was a great controller and a tenacious defender of the Ts&Cs through the union. A very sharp mind which was far superior in knowledge to the majority of people he worked alongside.
Not one to suffer fools gladly, Toms' only failing was that he sometimes 'let off steam' before he thought his actions through.
That said, his treatment 18 months ago was shoddy and was done by management in a bid to flex muscle and shake things up - certainly the heavy handed-ness was not managements finest hour, but unfortunately it followed a few very poor management decisions around the same time from the watch in question.
Toms' professionalism shone through the episode though and the work he did in his new role and the way he got on with his job made the difference between his integrity and the integrity of management even more visible.
RIP
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 1
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From: Shropshire
I worked with Tom in his blue-suit days and although we did not see eye-to-eye all the time he never bore a grudge and even in those early days he had a very sharp wit. He was a cracking controller who gave aircrew a really good service - even if his preferred method of co-ordination was "Get out of my way"!
After years of knowing what he was up to but not keeping in touch, I spent a week with him in France last year and he hadn't changed. More mellow but still a genuine guy. Why do the good guys go early!
After years of knowing what he was up to but not keeping in touch, I spent a week with him in France last year and he hadn't changed. More mellow but still a genuine guy. Why do the good guys go early!
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 856
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From: I sell sea shells by the sea shore
Tom and I worked together at West Drayton. We got on well and I personally enjoyed his sometimes "brutal" honesty, others (mostly the managers of the time) did not.
Like many other "good" guys, he's gone too soon.
Very saddened.
BEX
Like many other "good" guys, he's gone too soon.
Very saddened.
BEX
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 2
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From: France
Tom Marshall
I can't believe this. I met Tom at Eastern in 1980 and we've been friends ever since. His last e-mail to me was 4 weeks ago saying he was coming to my daughters christening. What a waste of a wonderful man.