DTELS.Org

Posted on behalf of Ian Aitken

I was saddened to hear the news that Mike had passed away. I first met him when I was posted to Weyhill. Mike was then SWT in charge of the Test Equipment Section and Standards Lab and went out of his way to help me settle in and show me around the area. We went on to work together as CWT’s in R&D, at Rochester Row, working on the MADE project before Mike was promoted to SWE and joined the Field Services HQ team spending several year in Horseferry House.

Mike never moved house but travelled from his home in Little Cheverell near Devises, which he built himself, by car to Andover station 30 miles away to catch the train to London and back everyday! His trusty Triumph 2000 had 240,000 miles on the clock as a result before it was moved on. Mike was further promoted to CWE/Grade 7 and finally went on to be OIC of Bishops Cleeve.

I visited him a couple of years ago and he was still the same old Mike busy in his large garden just getting on with things. He was always a kind and considerate person who took pride in everything that he did.

RIP Mike.

I regret to announce that Ian Aitken emailed me earlier today to inform me that Mike Brain had passed away on 24th July 2024 after a short illness aged 89. He leaves a sister, Diana, who I am grateful for the telephone conversation we had to help fill gaps in my memory of Mike's service years.

His funeral is to be held on Tuesday 27th of August 14:00 hrs at St Peter's Church, Little Cheverell, Wiltshire, SN10 5YA.

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Personal Message

At the age of 16 Mike joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) where his twelve years service included 2.5 years in Nairobi and a similar period in Cyprus. After leaving the forces in 1963 he joined the Directorate of Telecommunications as a Wireless Technician and by the early 1970s was a Senior Wireless Technician at Weyhill Maintenance Unit working in the Test Equipment Section. A picture of Mike at the workbench can be seen here. During the 1970s Mike was promoted to Chief Wireless Technician based at Headquarters London and worked on a number of projects including MADE. Photos he took at the time relating to the MADE project can be seen here.

By the early 1980s Mike had been promoted to Senior Wireless Engineer at Weyhill running the Maintenance Planning Unit with a line management role for the co-sited Maintenance Unit (MU) as well as the other two MUs at Bishops Cleeve and Kippax. It was during this time that in March 1983 I first met Mike as a newly promoted Chief Wireless Technician (CWT) taking up my first post away from field servicing having moved from Sheffield. From the outset he made me feel very welcome and gave valuable guidance during my early months in what was to be a challenging but entirely different role working with manufacturers and suppliers. Later that year Mike was promoted to Chief Wireless Engineer/Grade 7 eventually based at Bishops Cleeve where he remained until around 1987 when he took early retirement.

During his thirty-seven years In retirement he kept himself busy with various projects including extending his home and land, gardening and helping many others in the locality where he lived. He also served for a period of time on the Parish Council. One of his hobbies was amateur radio where he held the call-sign G0VNB and enjoyed building equipment to professional standards to use on the air.

He always kept in touch with Lynn (my wife) and I at Christmas and through email over the years. We last met up with Mike around two years ago in Little Cheverell and he had all the appearances of still enjoying village and home life.

It was a pleasure knowing you Mike, RIP

Steven....


Photo: Mike taken in 2010 (credit - Diana Turner)



Photo: Mike taken in 1973 (credit - Ian Aitken)