When Norman Crawford Smith was invited to join Metropolitan-Vickers in 1949 he could hardly believe his good luck. In his final year at U.C.T. many of his lectures were delivered by Prof. Goodlet. He was a brilliant man and an excellent teacher. When asked by a student how a particular operation was performed he would consider for a moment and then say that you could do it this way or that way “But at Metrovick we always did it this way”. (He had received much of his training and engineering experience at M-V) So he came to understand that as far as electrical engineering is concerned, Metro-Vick was the Rolls-Royce of the profession.

In this blog, Norman Crawford Smith opens a window on what life was like in the maelstrom of corporations where sometimes idiosyncratic management styles and behavior created resentment and anxiety.

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At the end of his “brainwashing tour” for the Company in 1963 Norman Crawford Smith and his wife departed on their own own “Grand Tour of Europe“. They left London in an Air France aircraft and, after a smooth and uneventful flight, landed at Orly Airport just outside Paris. Cleared through Customs, they chartered a taxi to take them to their hotel. It was a “first” for both of them so they sat like a pair of country bumpkins, soaking up the passing scene.

Norman Smith provides a melange of episodes that comprise and define an overseas trip. Partly the issues that arise are a consequence of misunderstanding of different cultures but they can also arise due to not having a lingua franca.

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In this blog, Norman Smith describes the nautical and naval careers of his family. What none of them would anticipate would be the tragedy and trauma arising from this choice of hobby or career.

Main picture: HB Smith with Norman (left), and Matthew (right) at Bembridge, Isle of Wight c1937

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Norman was standing at his study window, gazing idly at the peaceful scene across the valley. On the far side, the airport slumbered in the dusk. A very thin mist hung over the runways. An aircraft on short final approach. its headlights probing the gloom. made an interesting picture. Suddenly his memory jerked back fifty-odd years….

Main picture: London during the Blitz

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