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Retired RAF Squadron Leader Phil Marston MBE has been elected as the 2010 President of the Rotary Club of Uppingham in Rutland. Phil, who together with his wife Joyce lives in Uppingham, is perhaps best known locally for his voluntary work as the Financial Director of the Rutland Railway Museum, as well as his service in Rotary. He was awarded his MBE in 1994 for service to the community. Phil served in the RAF for 38 years, 18 of them at the Aircraft and Armament Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down in Wiltshire specialising in underwater acoustics. Phil joined a Brass Band at the age of 11 and continued to play, teach and conduct for over 50 years. A full personal profile of President Phil Marston MBE follows. For further information on the Rotary Club of Uppingham see www.uppinghamrotary.org
Squadron Leader Phil Marston MBE BA RAF (Retired) A Personal Profile Phil was born in the Rhondda Valley, S Wales on 18 March 1942. His father had been a coal miner from the age of 14 and, at the outbreak of the Second World War, had enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps. On 15 Feb 1942 his military record shows him as being reported missing and confirmed as a Prisoner of War in Malaya. He was not released until September 1945 and, following debrief, arrived home in April 1946. Phil’s upbringing was therefore left mainly to his mother and even when his father was released from the army, he went back to being a coal miner. Phil passed the `eleven plus’ examination and went to a grammar school some 9 miles from home. However, he did not do particularly well in examinations, preferring sport and more practical subjects. He passed 2 GCE’s (out of 8) at the first attempt and 1 (out of 3) at the second attempt. Nevertheless, he managed to join the RAF in 1959, 2 months after his seventeenth birthday, as an aircraft apprentice radar fitter. Training was done at RAF Locking, near Weston Super Mare and was a 3 year course. Following a lacklustre first year and a `buck up your ideas’ interview, he finished at the top of his entry and made the rank of Corporal. Following a year as a radar fitter at RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire, he applied for aircrew training and was selected for NCO Pilot. Subsequently it was found that his legs were too long and he was offered training as an Air Electronics Operator – a further year’s training. During this training in Yorkshire he met Joyce who was then undergoing teacher training, whom he later married in 1965 and they went on to have 3 children, all born in Cornwall. On completion of training, he went to fly Valiant aircraft, however, they were soon taken out of service and Phil went to fly on Shackleton aircraft. In 1969, with the advent of the Nimrod aircraft, Phil was selected for specialist training in underwater acoustics which remained his specialisation throughout his service. In 1971 he was selected for commissioning as an Officer, serving in Scotland, Cornwall and Yorkshire. Whilst serving in Yorkshire both Joyce and Phil studied for Open University degrees in their own time and for Phil this opened up an opportunity to do a post graduate course in Aeronautics at the RAF College Cranwell. He was then posted to the Aircraft and Armament Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down, Wiltshire where he remained for the next 18 years. Phil left the RAF, after 38 years in uniform, in 1997 having civilianised his own job and spent a further year in the civil service. On leaving the civil service he set himself up in business and became a consultant, doing the same job as he had in the RAF. Phil played Rugby and Cricket at School, however, on joining the RAF was `ordered’ to play basketball due to his height (6 ft 5 inches – 194 cm). He also joined a brass band at the age of 11 and continued playing, teaching and conducting for the next 53 years. His 40 years service and involvement with the local community led to the award of the MBE in 1994. After a few years of retirement in Wiltshire Joyce and Phil decided to move to Rutland and arrived in Uppingham in Jun 2006. When the decision to move was made, Joyce and Phil approached Voluntary Action Rutland and Phil took on the job of `looking after the books’ for the Rutland Railway Museum, became an active member of the RAFA and transferred his Rotary membership from Amesbury to Uppingham. Joyce also helps with Age Concern in Uppingham and presently runs the Age Concern Indoor Bowls Club in Uppingham. |
