Robert Ian Hamilton Macnee 1937-2017

Early years

Ian was born in Hendon, the home of our mother’s family, on July 26, 1937, shortly after our parents  arrived back from Australia, where they had lived for two years. The family lived for a while in Petts Wood in Kent, from where Dad commuted to work in the Woolwich division of Standard Telephones and Cables.  But when Ian was two, Woolwich was one of the least safe places in the country, located as it was in the heart of London’s docks, and a prime target for German bombers.   

When the Blitz started Mum and Ian were evacuated to Anglesey, in North Wales.  Dad stayed in London, working on defense communications for the war effort  and serving as an air raid warden, but he visited Anglesey when he could (I am living proof of that). But in 1940 Dad’s division of STC was evacuated, lock, stock and most of the workers and their families, to Somerset.  So it was that I and then Hazel were born and we all three grew up in Somerset. 

We lived in a tiny cottage, with a thatch roof, oak timbers across the main living room, and a large fireplace with a hearth we could sit on to keep warm on cold nights.  

Ian was the oldest of the three.  He was 3 1/2 when I was born, and I was 3 1/2 when Hazel came along. My very first surviving memory is of standing beside Ian while we asked where our mother was.  That she was in hospital having given birth to a baby sister was news to me, but I have often wondered if Ian knew more than I did.   

One day, when in a fit of wanting to be helpful (or possibly not) I decided to put my baby sister to bed.  We were almost at the top of the stairs before we turned tail and landed in a heap at the bottom.  My mother unsurprisingly was very cross with me, but Ian took care of me, minding my bumps and bruises while Mum cared for the squalling baby. 

He never minded my tagging along with him and other boys in the village as we wandered the meadows, climbed trees and fished for minnows in the streams.  One time I recall he helped me when I fell off my bike after some neighborhood boys threw stones on to the road and risked their anger by reporting them to their mother.  And he played cricket with me and taught me to love the game.  But cricket was not his favorite sport; he was to be a swimmer and a rugby player. 

All too soon the seven years that separated the three of us led to our growing up in different worlds.   While we three siblings went our separate ways – in fact lived in entirely different worlds flung across the globe so that our paths seldom crossed – whenever they did he always made sure we got together.  

Ian went off to boarding school, first as a weekly boarder at St. Martin’s School in Crewkerne, then not long after Hazel came along he went to King’s College in Taunton.  From King’s he went to Wellington School in Somerset (not the more famous College in Berkshire). A sportsman rather than a scholar, Ian played cricket and rugby, was a member of the school swim team and of the Combined Cadet Force. In 1953, aged fifteen, he left school for an apprenticeship with the Royal Air Force.   Ian was to remain in the Air Force until he was 30, fulfilling a 15-year commitment that came with the apprenticeship.   

The Royal Air Force 1953-1967

His RAF career took him to the far corners of the world – the Middle East and the Far East, the Tropics and the Antarctic – but began not far from home. For his apprenticeship he was stationed at RAF Locking, near Weston-super-Mare in Somerset, the RAF’s radio engineer training school. He began as a radio apprentice, which was the foundation for his life in engineering, and his disciplined approach to work.  But he wasn’t always so disciplined.  In fact during his first months at RAF Locking he was often in trouble.  At the end of his first term, he was faced with being confined to barracks over Christmas, but an officer took pity on him, gave him a caution, and he came home for the holiday after all.  Apparently the advice he was given took root, for two years later he earned his 2-year good behavior stripes.

RAF Locking 1953-1957 

A member of the 76th entry, just 16 years old, Ian was enrolled in the ground-based radar course. Three entries per year of 100 enrollees – about 1200 apprentices at any one time – were enrolled in one of three four-year long courses: ground-based radar; air-based radar; and ground wireless, or traffic control. Apprentices under 17 years old were paid 17/6 a week. Of this 10/- was handed out at weekly pay parade, but the rest was held in a savings account until they graduated. (At 17, pay went up to 49 shillings, at 18 to 56 shillings). But expenses were few; they were not allowed to drink, could spend money in the NAAFI or at the movies on base, or on occasion take the bus into town, about 3 1⁄2 miles from base – often walking home having missed the last bus, in various states of disarray. The first months on base were difficult for many of the younger boys, and Ian was often in trouble. But he soon settled down, and in his senior year he served as kit boy to the flight sergeant apprentice. Rugby was his first love, here as at school, and not even dislocation of his shoulder severe enough to see him relieved of parade duties was enough to stop him from playing. 

RAF Khormaksar January to July 1958 

After graduating from Locking, in July 1957, Ian remained in the UK for several months, but then was sent to the Middle East. An uprising in the Yemen was causing concern and a state of emergency was declared. RAF squadrons were deployed in support of the British Army against Yemeni forces. He was at RAF Khormaksar, Aden, from January to July 1958. Khormaksar was the base for nine squadrons and became the RAF’s busiest- ever station as well as the biggest staging post for the RAF between the UK and Singapore. It later became Aden International Airport. 

RAF Eastleigh, Nairobi, 1958-1961

The next posting, to RAF Eastleigh, Nairobi, could not have been more congenial, for Ian had a second home there with his Harley relatives, Uncle Tony, Aunt Rene, and their son Michael. The British colonial population was once again relatively secure and open, since the Kikuyu uprising (Mau Mau) had by this time effectively been suppressed – though there were continuing incidents, including one that was to affect Ian shortly before he left the country. Mike, who was three years younger than Ian, had been living in Nairobi since he was about ten years old, and was more than happy to introduce his cousin to colonial life in Kenya. There are few clues to Ian’s RAF activities in Nairobi, but in addition to an open invitation to Nairobi social life, a highlight of each year they both enjoyed was the East African Coronation Safari, a car rally across Kenya, Tanganyika and Uganda. 

His radio communications skills provided an unexpected opportunity when he was seconded, in September 1960, to assist in the production of the Paramount/Harold Hawkes movie Hatari! starring John Wayne, Hardy Kruger and Elsa Martinelli. Hatari! is the story of a group of adventurers in northern Tanganyika, there to catch wild animals for zoos around the world. Much of the film involves chasing animals in jeeps and trucks across the African plains. In the days before the development of reliable animal tranquillizers and dart guns, the animals were all wild, untrained, and captured by actors leaning out of trucks holding ropes on poles.

It was on a night-time drive related to his work with the movie that Ian was involved in a fatal car accident. The Land Rover in which he was traveling was en route to Manyara to install a radio link with the Paramount Pictures radio station in Arusha, when it collided with a truck parked by the side of the road, unseen in the dark. While Ian suffered a broken arm, the driver received severe head injuries, and the second passenger was killed instantly. The Land-Rover was out of action, but the driver, despite his injuries, drove Ian and himself in the truck more than thirty miles to Arusha where they received medical treatment. Ian fully revered from his injuries and shortly thereafter, in December 1960, left Nairobi, after a grand farewell party thrown by the Harley family. 

RAF Locking 1961-1964 

For the next three years (1961-1964), Ian was to return to RAF Locking, this time as a technical instructor. It was during this period that he joined the Young Conservatives, with his friends Janet and John Stephen and others. These friendships were to last all their lives, as was Ian’ s commitment to community engagement. But by now he was weary of air force life and looking for a new challenge. He found it by applying for a secondment to the British Antarctic Survey. He was accepted on July 29, 1964. He went home for a short leave, then took a two week course at Locking on Windfinder Radar, which was to be his responsibility in the Antarctic. 

Antarctica: Halley Bay Base 1964-1966[1]

Halley Bay, named after the British astronomer Edmond Halley, was on the Caird Coast of Antarctica. The research base there, built on the Brunt Ice Shelf, was founded in 1956 by the Royal Society, to study the atmosphere during the International Geophysical Year (1957-58). While the research focus was primarily atmospheric, it also included surveying, geology and glaciology. Initially known as Base Z, it was renamed for Halley after changes in the ice shelf led to the disappearance of the bay. The station was abandoned in 1968, after being buried by snow accumulation and crushed until it was uninhabitable; it has been relocated four more times since then. 

Life in Antarctica is dominated by the seasons, with a short, hectic summer and a long winter. Temperatures at Halley rarely rise above 0 °C although temperatures around -10 °C are common on sunny summer days. Typical winter temperatures are below -20 °C with extreme lows of around -55 °C. Significant dates in the winter are sundown (last day when the Sun can be seen) on April 29th, midwinter on June 21st and sunrise (first day when the Sun rises after winter) on August 13th. Traditionally, the oldest person on base lowers the tattered flag on sundown and the youngest raises a new one on sunrise. Midwinter is a weeklong holiday, during which a member of the wintering team is chosen to keep the old flag. The most significant event of the year is the arrival of the resupply ship in late December. This is followed by intense activity to unload all supplies before the ship has to leave again; typically, this is done in less than two weeks. The Halley summer season runs from as early as mid-October until early March when the ship has left. During the winter months the base is isolated, with just a small skeletal staff, mostly the technical specialists required to keep the station and the scientific experiments running. 

Ian kept a journal starting on Friday January 1, 1965. On January 22 he reported that he was working in his shirtsleeves, and wrote: “who would wish to be in England when there is lovely weather like this here.” The temperature range he recorded for that day was 4.2 to 1.1 C (37.5 to 32 F). A few days later, “the warmest and sunniest day yet”, the ranges were 5.1 to 0.6 C. (41.1 to 33 F.) 

April 5, 1965: the last mail left, leaving just 14 men for the winter months. A few days later “All the ships left; we are well and truly on our own.” 

June 8, 1965: a message from Ian was broadcast on the BBC’s “Calling Antarctica” time, in which he congratulated Hazel and Keith on their engagement and upcoming wedding. 

There are many more details in the journal, in which he talks of his work there, and the social life of the staff. It was not an easy assignment, as they were often trapped in the base hut with little to do. Sometimes even getting outside to monitor the equipment was all but impossible, but Ian for the most part kept his patience and got on well with his colleagues. And there were adventures. There was skiing, and sledding, exploring and surveying. Then finally there was preparation for departure beginning in January, and departure itself in April 1966.

1966-1967 RAC VC10 Flight Proving Trials 

His final year in the RAF saw him flying around the globe, on VC-10 Flight Proving Trials. The Vickers VC10, the world’s first truly intercontinental jet airliner, was designed to fly from hot, high airfields, like La Paz and Nairobi and Johannesburg.   The first aircraft the RAF ordered was delivered to 10 squadron, based at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, in 1966, and training flights were quickly scheduled to get the squadron operational as quickly as possible. A total of fourteen were delivered between 1966 and 1967. They were used as tanker or transport aircraft in support missions, but also were used to fly scheduled routes.  I flew on one of the earlier VC10 commercial flights from London to Dar es Salaam in October 1964.

For many years the RAF VC10s operated as a regular airline, flying mixed loads of cargo and passengers. Once the squadron fleet had been built up to its full strength the VC10s were averaging more than 1,000 flying hours per month, conducting 27 flights each month to the Persian Gulf alone. For 32 years after the last fare paying passengers disembarked from a VC10 the type continued to fly with two RAF squadrons. They were also used in special operations such as VIP transports, aeromedical evacuations and disaster relief. 

Ian’s role in the training program focused on radio communications, and took him around the world several times during the year, with stops in Hong Kong and the USA. After this assignment Ian completed his 15years with the RAF and retired to civilian life. He continued to work in the defense industry for the remainder of his career. 

DEFENSE INDUSTRY 1967-1997 

1967-1971 Cossor Electronics

In 1967, he left his uniform behind and joined Cossor Electronics in Harlow.  At Cossor (by this time part of Raytheon) Ian worked initially on surveillance radar and later on the Rapier surface to air missile. (More accurate than its predecessors, it was jokingly described as a ‘hit-ile’ not a ‘miss- ile’, a joke Ian would certainly have enjoyed.) As part of his work on the Rapier he was assigned to the Woomera Rocket Range, in South Australia, returning to Harlow in 1970, where he had already met his future wife, Elizabeth Kinnear (Liz). 

Ian and Liz were neighbors in a block of flats, where their ways would cross in the parking garage on their respective paths to work. Liz remembers being drawn to the beaming smile and “top of the morning” greeting. They met soon after Ian’s arrival in Harlow, but did not have their first date until after Ian returned from Woomera in 1970.  In 1970 he brought Liz to meet the family in Paignton where we were gathered – Hazel and Keith with Mandy, Tom and I and Jennifer – because mother had been ill.  

1971-1972 NATO Air Defense Ground Environment Company, Thessaloniki, Greece 

There was one more overseas trip before Ian stopped travelling. Ian was appointed site manager overseeing installation of equipment from US, UK, French, German and Italian companies at a Greek radio station in Thessaloniki. But in the middle of this assignment Ian and Liz were married, in Dundee. Their first home was at Avramedes Villas, Thessaloniki, where they remained for about year, by which time their family was about to grow. 

MARRIAGE, 1971 to Elizabeth Mabel Kinnear

Ian married Elizabeth Mabel Kinnear (Liz), in Dundee, on September 25, 1971.

Elizabeth Mabel Kinnear, named after her two grandmothers, was born at Marrbank Nursing Home in Dundee, Scotland. Born July 6 1947, her parents were Major James Stirling Kinnear, MB.CHB, F.R.C.S.E. and Jean Duncan Ritchie of Viewbank, Dundee. They were married at St Paul’s Church, Dundee, 12 September 1946. Major Kinnear was educated at Forfar Academy, St Andrews and Edinburgh Universities, was a consultant surgeon and university lecturer, who had served with Royal Army Medical Corps in Normandy, East Africa & Iceland. Jean Ritchie, who was the daughter of a wholesale grocer, Arthur George Ritchie, and earned a certificate in Domestic Science from Polam Hall, Darlington. She was the granddaughter of Sir George Ritchie, who was chairman of the Dundee Liberal Party for many years and who served as agent for Winston Churchill’s campaign for MP for Dundee in 1908. 

Liz’s first home was East Somerville Place, opposite Dundee Royal Infirmary. Just before the birth on 18 April 1950, of her brother, Robert Ritchie Kinnear BSc (Bob), the family moved to Windsor Street and subsequently Clarendon Drive -Torwood- which was to remain the family home for nearly 40 years. 

Liz attended Dundee High School, from the age of 5 to 17, participating in Girl Guides
with service periods in a local orphanage and visiting the elderly. From an early age, Liz attended Sunday School then took membership of St Paul’s Church, Nethergate; in her teens she taught in the Sunday School and sang in the church choir. She received a Queen’s Guide award from Lady Baden Powell at the Caird Hall, Dundee. She then spent two summers as an au pair with a family in Orleans, a town in north-central France twinned with Dundee. 

At St Andrews University Liz completed her M.A. degree (French & Latin) in 1968. Her extra- curricular activities included helping at a local school for autistic children, and assisting with publicity for the university dramatic society. 

After graduation she moved south, to Brockles Mead, Harlow, as computer programmer with Group Management Services, Rank Hovis McDougall, before going on to train as an industrial training officer. Liz joined Harlow Choral Society, when Bryan Barnes was conductor, a highlight being chosen to sing in a concert for 1000 voices with Yehudi Menuhin at Alexandra Palace (c. 1970). A year later she was to marry Ian. 

HOME AND FAMILY AT 35, SMITH FIELD, RAYNE, ESSEX 

Ian and Liz were to have three children, all born in Braintree, Essex. 

Helen Clare born 11 February 1973

Lorna Ruth born 1 December 1976

Anne Elizabeth born 4 September 1978

Ian purchased a home at 35 Smith Field, in Rayne near Braintree, Essex, and he and Liz moved in on their return from Greece.  He returned to work in Harlow, and Liz began teaching at Chelmsford High School. Helen was born a few months later, to be followed in due course by Lorna (1976) and Anne (1978). Ian continued to work for Cossor Electronics, moving on to engineering and cost control management roles in GEC Basildon aka Marconi Avionics and now BAE systems. He retired in 1997.[1]

At home in Rayne Ian joined the parish council, where he served for over 30 years, earning a well-deserved citizenship award in 2011. He also continued his commitment to the Conservative party.  He helped the local District Five Conservatives build membership and raise funds for many years, acting variously as Secretary, Treasurer and Chairman. Ian is probably remembered most for the many pig roasts and other convivial occasions, and other boozy occasions he helped organize, often for 200 people. He also set up a discussion club at the Swan, and helped run a supper club in Witham.  He supported the Neighborhood Watch, the Speed Watch, and the construction of a skate park for local youth.  Ian would take part in any type of investment activity or business games, and was part of the Cats Whiskers Investment Club.  

After his retirement, Ian spent much of his time volunteering for the Probis Club, for Community Transport, and for the Blind Club.  A member of the Cats Whiskers Investment Club Ian enjoyed all kinds of investment activities and business games. After his retirement Ian spent much of his time volunteering for the Probis Club, for Community Transport, and the Blind Club. 

DEATH DECEMBER 12, 2017 

Ian’s ill health came gradually over many years. There were early signs when the car maintenance and the DIY were no longer an interest. And the last years left him increasingly unable to keep up his activities, with several bouts of hospitalization, through which his devoted Liz and daughters cared and cajoled and encouraged him to remain with us. But eventually his stout heart gave out. On the afternoon of December 12 2017, after reminiscing over lunch with Liz and Lorna about his early years and looking at childhood photos, he fell asleep. Lorna, alone with him at the end, was witness to his departure, and caretaker of his final moments. 

Ian brought happiness to many lives. He was a reliable friend, always there for support with a smile, a laugh or a joke at the ready. He enjoyed life fully, generously and with good humour. His depth of emotion taught us all that feelings are stronger than any words can express. His love rang strong and continuous. Like the underground rivers of the West Country where he grew up. We are grateful to have been a part of his life. 

GRATITUDE

Despite our sorrow at losing him we are intensely grateful.

We are grateful that Ian was able to enjoy the 80th-70th birthday party he shared with Liz this past year.

We are grateful that he was released before his condition deteriorated further.  

We are grateful that on the day he died he had been happily reminiscing while looking at photos of an early family outing with his sisters.  

We are grateful to Lorna for being there at the very end.  While realizing that this was a deeply troubling experience for her,  he was not alone while he quietly slipped away.

And we are all grateful to Liz, for all the years of their devoted partnership together.

Above all we are grateful to have been part of the family and friends of Ian Macnee, a man who gave as much as he received.  

Ian brought happiness to many lives.  He was a reliable friend, always there for support with a smile, a laugh, a joke at the ready.  He enjoyed life fully, generously, with good humour.  His depth of emotion taught us all that feelings are felt stronger than any words can express.  His love rang strong and continuously, just like the underground rivers of the West Country where he grew up. 

Memories and anecdotes 

He was devoted to his family. Sheila recalls: “3 1/2 years older than me, and 7 years older than our younger sister Hazel, he never minded my tagging along behind him and the other boys in the village. We wandered the meadows, climbed trees and fished for minnows in the streams. He would wait for me when I fell behind, and took care of my many cuts and bruises. As the three of us grew up our paths sent us in different directions across the globe. But when those paths did happen to cross Ian always made sure that we got together.” 

Ian had many qualities that were apparent to anyone who knew him. An outgoing and cheerful personality, he was always ready to greet a stranger. He was patient, protective, mischievous, hard working, respectful, calm … and full of fun and tales. The oldest of three children, in a loyal, outgoing and well-traveled family with strong political views and high moral principles, he was a loving and patient big brother. He was just as patient with his children. He would share his ‘dippy eggs’ with them while he hurried to get ready for work, and let them putter alongside him while fixing cars in the garage, and with his various DIY projects. 

He was straightforward and could be fixed in his ways, even inscrutable at times.  But as a father of three lively young women he was, to quote one of them “a bastion of calm amidst an ocean of female volatility.”  He was something of a mystery to his children, Helen, Lorna and Anne, as were their lifestyle choices to him.  But the best times for Ian were when they were together as a family around the well-worn dinner table “united in warmth, closeness and humor.”  His  mischievous, teasing side would come out with his girls too, epitomized by their stories of him dancing in front of the TV when they were trying to watch Top of the Pops. 

A lifelong lover of sports Ian was a junior swimming champion at Wellington School, a dedicated rugby player, and later a skier on water and snow. While at Locking he injured his shoulder, dislocating it not once but several times. Eventually the injury required that he be relieved of parade duty, but that didn’t stop him from continuing to play for his team. As he aged and had to give up active play, he watched any and all sports on TV with similar dedication.

Of his time in Antarctica, his friend Tony Bushell wrote in 2017: I was on the John Biscoe going south with him and he was part of my meteorology team at Argentine Islands. I have very fond memories of him. He was great to work with and a very good friend around base. I recall some very interesting mornings sitting in his tiny radar cabin with him in awful weather trying our best to follow a met balloon. And then around base he was always helpful, approachable and good fun. Great days.

Never an ‘all-work and no play’ type, Ian knew how to relax as well. And Liz knew when he was totally relaxed: pipe in mouth, sorting through his extensive stamp collection, or at Christmas time bent over a complicated jigsaw puzzle. He loved reading – Wilbur Smith forever – and movies, especially black and white war films, again forever. 

Goodnight Irene, 2012 and 1950 – a later memory of Ian

Our vacation plans have been disrupted.  Hurricane Irene has caused the cancellation of our flights to Maine.  We are stuck at home, wondering when we will we get there.[1]  Suddenly I was reminded of hearing the song coming from my brother’s room. For some reason I was surprised.  Surprised that he was listening to pop music? This was 1950, the year The Weavers’ version of Goodnight Irene reached #1 on the Billboard charts.  I was nine, he was twelve or thirteen.  In retrospect, it seems natural that pop music would have been part of his social life.  But I didn’t know much about my brother.  He was at boarding school most of the time, and when he was at home he hung out with friends in the village.  But here was music coming from his bedroom. Maybe I was surprised that he had a radio in his room.  In those days we had one radio, a large HMV that sat in the dining room but to which dad had fitted extensions so we could all sit around the fire in the sitting room and listen together.  I think it must have been the incredible notion that my brother had his very own private access to radio that was so shocking.  Later, while he was out, I sneaked a look and discovered that he had made himself a crystal radio, a simple type of radio receiver relatively easy to make.  And I spotted quite a collection of pop music song sheets.  So this is what my big brother was becoming. I think they called it ‘teenage’