Brian M Johnson, G3LOX, 4th July 2018

Brian M Johnson, G3LOX (SK)

Brian was born in 1925 in Liverpool. Just before the Second World War he began his career as an apprentice radio engineer; when it did begin he volunteered to become a member of the Home Guard. Soon after that he received his call up papers to do national service; he joined the army where postings took him abroad including one in Bethlehem. The war ended so he signed up with the BBC putting his REME qualifications to good use; he started as a cameraman and gradually worked his way to outside broadcasts including Grandstand and Wimbledon at the time when Dan Maskell was the commentator. He went on to producing Tomorrow’s World for 20 years and some of The Royal Institution Lectures. His later work resulted in several books written by him which were subsequently converted to TV series such as The Secret War with William Woollard; he was always proud of the fact that he interviewed Prof. R.V.Jones not long before he died and was the last person to interview Hanna Reitsch, the V1 test pilot, before she died. He also stated how she was a staunch Nazi right up to her death; she displayed a bust of Adolf Hitler on her bookshelf. Other series were Test Pilot filmed at Boscombe Down also Fighter Pilot. Brian’s work, usually researched from National archives, along with his sedulous approach to achieve high standards and accuracy resulted in some very watchable and interesting documentaries.

A keen licensed amateur since 1957, much of his equipment was home made including a B & W Audio phase shift network SSB transmitter, this was unusual in the 1950s as most used AM. He was a regular on the 80m BBC net right up to a fortnight before he died. Brian had a love of steam trains and was a keen pilot; his PPL enabled him to fly his Auster or the BBC club Slingsby from Denham to some filming locations.

Sadly the end of an era for us television viewers and radio amateurs.

Tribute by Chris Morgan, G3XFE

Category: Silent Keys