#647, John Robert ALDRED

John Robert Aldred was a twentieth century polymath. Born from humble beginnings he ran away from home to join a travelling dance troupe before flying Vulcan bombers and Nimrod surveillance jets with the Royal Air Force. After leaving the RAF he ran a theatre and cinema before becoming a cyber security expert with NATO in Brussels.

John’s mother, Gladys, was orphaned at just 17 when she entered service. She was a housemaid in Norfolk. Among her employers was Henry Rider Haggard, author of King Soloman’s Mines and She. John’s father, Robert, was a coach sign writer having previously been a mechanic for the renowned racing driver John Cobb, three times holder of the world land speed record. John was just 16 when his father, significantly older than his mother, died. John’s headmaster was horrified to learn that his star pupil proposed to join a touring dance company. Both the pleas of his headmaster and his mother to apply for Cambridge University fell on deaf ears. John packed his bag and went to play the grandfather in a tour of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf.

Soon after John won a scholarship at the prestigious Rose Bruford College of Speech & Drama in Kent. As a schoolboy John had already gained experience of working the lighting boards in Norwich theatres. When he helped put on a college production of Noël Coward’s Cavalcade at London’s Sadlers Wells theatre his technical skills were spotted by Charlie Bristow, one of the most the famous lighting designers of the day, who took him under his tutelage.

In 1962 John was Stage Manager for the Geoffrey Hastings Theatre company for the summer season in Newquay when he married his assistant stage manager, and former fellow Rose Bruford student, Christine Newman. The reception took place on stage amid that week’s play set.

After helping light the stage of the new Congress Theatre in Eastbourne and being asked by Laurence Olivier to help with the stage lighting at the new Chichester Festival Theatre, John was appointed Lighting Designer and chief electrician at the Theatre Royal in Lincoln. However, by the beginning of 1964 the young couple had two baby girls and John decided that he need a more financially secure future.

John successfully applied for a 16-year Officer’s Commission and within a few months became an Air Electronics Officer in the V Force, flying Vulcans. During this period the crews of the nuclear-deterrent-armed Vulcan bombers knew their families, and the rest of the UK, would be dust by the time their aircraft reached Norway should any of the major superpowers press the nuclear button. John’s posting at RAF Waddington was followed by an underground job at RAF Strike Command in High Wycombe, and then a three-year posting flying Nimrods out of Malta.

Throughout his time in the RAF, John ran the station cinema and put on theatrical productions as part of his secondary role as Head of the Entertainment Unit. He became renowned for his ambitious operas and musicals as well as classical and contemporary plays. Particularly notable were John’s pantomimes produced in Valletta’s 18^th century Manoel Theatre, the British Commonwealth’s oldest theatre and the third oldest in Europe. John even persuaded Malta’s leading classical Maestro & composer Joe Vella to conduct the pantomime orchestra. Later The Times of Malta and Maltese historians would credit John’s era with the Ariel Players with cementing Malta’s panto heritage. Malta is now the only country in the world that produces an annual panto in two languages: Maltese and English.

Returning to the UK in 1978 and to another Nimrod Squadron, his last posting was at St Mawgan in Cornwall. John’s Nimrod was involved in the 1979 Fastnet Race rescue mission. Fifteen yachtsmen and four rescuers died in the storm which led to the UK’s largest rescue operation in peacetime.

After his 16-year RAF commission came to an end, John returned to his first love, running an Art Deco theatre and cinema in Horsham, Sussex. His time back in a theatre was cut short, however, when the building was demolished to make way for a large shopping centre. Combining his knowledge of theatres and his electronic skills, John began work with Box Office Computers, just as electronic box office systems were being launched. The job revolutionising box office ticketing systems led him to work for ICL and then Plessy before he became a self-employed Defence Consultant. Persuaded to take the role of Technical IT Security Officer for NATO, John and Chris headed to Brussels, which was their base for 3 years. Even after retiring from NATO, John continued to work. His last project was as a consultant for the European Galileo satellite navigation system – taken up at the age of 75.

When not working John lived life to the full. He was a notable raconteur, took up sailing in his middle years and flew his own light aircraft in his later years. He loved writing and had a play of his own produced on BBC’s radio 4. He persuaded his wife, Chris, to apply for a BBC job after she had worked as a volunteer presenter on British Forces radio in Malta. Chris was appointed as a presenter and newsreader on Radio 2 and became the first female in Britain to host a show on national radio through the night. John was always supportive of his three daughters, assuring them they could be and do anything they chose, if it made them and others happy.