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David Samways

This version was saved 6 years, 2 months ago View current version     Page history
Saved by Ian Gillis
on January 1, 2018 at 9:32:49 pm
 

Ian Gillis tribute added

 

First David's own recollections of his career and an autobiographical note.

 

Tribute from Alan Hartley-Smith

I understand David's email address is being monitored so I would like to express my sadness in using it for this occasion to contact his family. Over the years David and I have conducted a varied, interesting and stimulating correspondence to record the history of the company we both regarded as our work-life alma mater, which was so ignominiously treated in its final days, to at least ensure it is not forgotten. I had wondered the reason for an apparent pause in the flow of messages but did not suspect illness - I sent an e-card to him for Christmas. It is a fact of our lives that our numbers are inevitably reducing so each loss is keenly felt.

 

Tribute from Mike Plant

What a shock.  David can only have been 78, or at most, nudging 79. One of the most striking of my" intake in 1957--tall, handsome in a way, and aristocratic in his manner and manners. A charming stammer and a ready wit, what memories flood back. The Oldfellows Group, started and run by him, I'm sure has grown  to a  much larger and detailed record than he originally envisaged!  How appropriate that HIS group should itself be a living memory of him and of those of us fortunate enough to have been present during his time in the Company.

Sadly, but with a smile too,  Mike

 

Tribute from John Brown

I was extremely sad to learn of the death of David Samways, who I got to know through my longest Marconi friend, Martyn Clarke. As you know of course, David had been compiling his wiki on Marconi Communications.  He needed to know the story of how Marconi had entered the Space Communications market and Martyn immediately gave him my name.  Incidentally, long before I knew anything about MOGS, I wrote for David about my time at Baddow;  in Radar Division;  and Space Communications. He passed the first two accounts to Alan H-S as he knew the two of you were gathering together, all the radar side of things;  he added my space communication account on to his wiki, where it now resides.  We then regularly exchanged our respective accounts of our time in Yorkshire.

 

Tribute from John Price

I have known David Samways since we were both accepted as Student Apprentices by the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company in 1957. 5 years of alternate college and in-Works training and final study at Marconi College in 1961. We both worked on commissioning the USAF microwave in UK and France, and later David left Marconi and moved to Honeywell in London while I joined GEC Telecommunications in Coventry. Shortly after that I was delighted to act as David’s best man at his wedding to Doreen in Stoke on Trent. We met again in Lagos Nigeria in 1965 when David worked at the Marconi P&T Training college, and I was there with GEC commissioning the Lagos to Port Harcourt Microwave System. We only had intermittent contact until 1980, when we were both living in Sydney Australia. Honeywell, renamed Bull, employed David in a senior marketing role for most of the time until he retired with his wife Doreen, to enjoy his daughter’s family and his 2 grandchildren. His dedicated work in support of MOFS, the Wiki and assisting with the writing of the article “The Marconi Family” was much appreciated by all concerned. Many will share the sadness at David’s passing, a friendly, humorous, caring, English gentleman.

 

Tribute from Ian Gillis

I didn't know David personally or professionally but I came to appreciate the dedication, conscientious attention to detail and sheer professionalism that he brought to bear on the work he did on the wikis. He will be greatly missed.

 

A post on the Marconi Veterans Association

 

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