Obituaries
life steam railways and photography were his two passions, and the move to Newick put them just two miles from the Bluebell Railway at Sheffield Park. Sadly, Wendy died of breast cancer in November 2006, prompting Graham’s retirement from work. During the following eight years he made the very best of retirement and devoted as much time as possible to his two great hobbies, as well as to helping others. He invested in digital cameras and computer equipment and started the mammoth task of cataloguing and storing his own vast collection of photographic material. Throughout his 36 years in Newick he was an active life member and volunteer of the Bluebell Railway, contributing a wealth of knowledge and experience, as well as archival project work for the railway. He also travelled extensively during his retirement on UK railway charters, and to Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Isle of Wight, as well as four trips to South Africa in the 1990s. He loved driving and covered thousands of miles throughout the UK, all in the pursuit of steam. He was kind and generous, always loyal and reliable, and he was a private and loving family man with a great sense of humour. As a highly respected engineer he was a perfectionist in everything he did. He was killed in the Shoreham Airshow crash on 22 August 2015. He had gone to photograph one of the last flights of the Vulcan bomber and was in the right place but at the wrong time, as a Hawker Hunter jet crashed into a road after failing to complete a loop. He died doing what he loved best on a beautiful summer’s day. Graham’s sister, Anthea Oaten, and his son Anthony contributed significantly to this obituary.
Calcutta, India, he missed the departure of his ship and had to find his own way by land and sea to Freemantle in Australia. There he then had to wait for several months for a ship to collect him. When he reached the UK he went to the Sir John Cass Nautical College, where he obtained his Board of Trade Second Mates (Foreign Going) ticket in 1948, but unfortunately high blood pressure ended his career at sea after a routine company medical in 1949. After a two year course on textiles, laundry technology and engineering he gained a first class certificate from the British Launderers Research Association and the Institute of British Launderers. He then worked briefly as the manager of two commercial laundries, Sunlight Group and Anglo American Laundry Group before joining Shell Chemicals as a technical representative. He was headhunted to start the Hoover Washability Centre, an innovative testing centre exploring the effects on textiles and dyes of the newly emerging domestic washing machine market and, while there, he represented the domestic washing machine industry on the UK Home Laundering Consultative Council, which created the washing labels we all rely on today. He was headhunted again to join the Consumers’ Association Testing and Research (CATR) division to run and manage their external projects. There, he began what he always considered his life’s most important work: drinking water projects and the development of hand pumps in the developing world, and subsequently the development of equipment used in the preservation of vaccines and blood. He travelled widely working with the British Government Official Development Assistance (ODA, usually known as ‘Overseas Aid’) and many international aid agencies. In recognition of this work he was awarded the OBE in 1987. He officially retired in 1992 but continued as a consultant for another three years. Ken married Anne Purchas from Barnes, London, in 1954 after they had met at Shell Chemicals, and together they had three children. After retirement he had more time to devote to his interests, so he continued to lead a busy life, spending much time on gardening, wine appreciation and film making. He continued to make documentary films about his work at CATR and many other subjects, winning numerous awards. His children and grandchildren particularly delighted in watching his well edited family films. He died peacefully in a hospice surrounded by family. He is survived by Anne, three children, eleven grandchildren, and seven great- grandchildren. Ken’s son Philip and brother Peter (42-49) contributed significantly to this obituary.
Kenneth John Mills OBE (1938-45) 14.06.1927 – 07.12.2015
Ken Mills, older brother of Peter (42-49), grew up in Herne Hill and came to the College with an LCC scholarship from Dulwich Hamlet School. He was in Raleigh and was keen on sport while at Dulwich. He captained both the Junior Colts and the
Colts, and played 2nd XI cricket for the school in 1944. He was a school prefect and Chief Petty Officer in the Sea Cadets. After leaving Dulwich, he was keen to go to sea and joined the Merchant Navy, obtaining a cadetship with J&C Harrison, a merchant marine company. He joined his first ship in February 1945, part of one of the last wartime convoys. For the next three years he travelled the world on a variety of ships carrying a broad range of cargoes including coal, timber, mail, snake skins, tugs and barges, as well as steam engines and rolling stock for the Indian railways. Following a car crash in
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