John Saunders

Hobbies

In addition to my Meccano hobby I was also into HO model railroad and making and flying model planes. However, on observing that planes seemed to have a magnetic attraction to tall trees, I discovered electronics, which were then all the rage in post WW2 England. By my early teens I was bicycling clear across Manchester to Stalybridge to dismantle military surplus radios which were piled up there and sold for a shilling a pound. I joined an amateur radio club, where I was the only non-adult member. I read all of the electronics books in the local library by the time I was 15. At Manchester Grammar School I was a member of a club which once a month toured a local manufacturing plant. One of these visits was to the first English computer, at Manchester University. When television came, I made my own from scratch, finishing it in time for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth. My proficiency in electronics was to greatly benefit me during university and throughout my subsequent career. Before finishing school, I had even made a crude oscilloscope.

Military Experience

I elected not to postpone my military service and was drafted into the Lancashire Fusiliers in 1952 after finishing school and a brief experience working at a switchgear factory in South Wales, procured by my Uncle Ernest, who was Chief Engineer for the British Electricity Authority for Wales.

This was a good choice, being born too late for WW2, and it turned out to be too early for the Korean war.

Following basic training, and shooting training I was scheduled to be shipped to Kenya, However, while in basic training I was interviewed by a visiting team for aptitude, who were interested in me because I was going to go to university . We asked if I liked learning languages, and I answered yes, which was a lie. Subsequently, I was sent to an interview in London, my first far trip alone. I heard nothing, until a few days before my unit was to embark for Africa, when I unexpectedly got my marching orders for the Joint Services School for Linguists, in Redhill, Surrey, near London. This was a cushy posting, especially as it was tri-service. There I learned to translate Russian for the rest of the first of my two-year service. I didn't like studying much, but the penalty for failing was to return to my unit. However they also gave military training there, and I liked shooting, and was quite good at it, even getting to shoot at Bisley.

After graduating, I was transferred to the Intelligence Corps at their center in Uckfield, in Sussex, where I was engaged mainly in translating Latvian newspapers, and compiling dossiers. At both camps, I made money doing the guard duties of richer soldiers. When I had enough, I bought a 1949 Matchless 350-cc motorcycle for £90. This was also a lasting influence. My father was most upset, but powerless to do anything about it.