Malcolm M
I've been informed that John Wells died earlier this year (April 2020). John was in the SAGEU Office in Riyadh in the early 1970s, and then was a Contract Officer in John Lawrence's Contracts Department at WRW. He then went onto the Projects Department and worked on many Projects, large and small, HADAF and Thai HF system being examples. I personally had dealings with him for nearly forty years, and am saddened to hear of his passing. He had an accident a few years ago, where he fell off a ladder, which left him as a paraplegic. He was an efficient and dedicated worker who brought a smile to every day dealings; although he had personal tragedies in his life, losing his wife to cancer in the 1980s.
RIP John

Ian G
John was a great guy, friendly, intelligent, good with people, helpful and self-effacing. He joined me and others on a Team Building and Self Development course (in Snowdonia, 1986, see photo above), where he showed what an asset he could be for any team, whether climbing mountains or running radar projects.

Mike D
I just want to say I agree with everything Malcolm said, I found him a great person to work with. A really nice chap.

David E
I worked with John towards the end of his career when he was Project Officer/site lead at the Dengie HFSWR test site. He was always very pleasant, cheerful and helpful. Very sorry to learn of his passing.

Mike H
Most sorry to hear of this. I worked with John on Project Hadaf (Oman Upgrade, about 1999) and we put together the spares and support equipment order, purchase and delivery. The contract price — and hence the budget — was an eye-watering amount that had to be fulfilled exactly.
I knew what we wanted and John knew how to do the ordering and contract stuff, then, when some of the subcontract stuff came in a bit below par, we sorted it out.
A most easy and enthusiastic soul you could ever meet.
I recall his most disliked feature of Chelmsford was the speed camera on the Broomfield Road.…

Steve B
John was the first person I ever met in Saudi Arabia,  January 1973. He remained a good friend.
When I returned to Saudi in 1977 he was again around to straighten paths and generally help. Top man!
When my wife was in Shamaizi hospital with a punctured lung he was the smiley face of Marconi who visited us. Sue also worked in the Marconi office and considered him a good friend.

Nigel C

I was very sorry to hear of John’s demise, he was a lovely man; always had a smile and always willing to help in whatever way he could.

George R

I came across John many times as our careers developed: initially when he was in the office in Riyadh and showed me how everything worked, then again when he moved to contracts in the office at WRW.

John was a really easy guy to work with and had a most pleasant and approachable manner. He always gave the impression that nothing was too much trouble and he would go away and sort out whatever needed to be done.

John was the sort of person who exemplified all the good things that came from working for Marconi “in the day!“.

I was unaware of his passing and send my condolences to his family. 

Norman D

I was shocked to hear of John’s death. I first met John in Saudi Arabia in the early 70s. In the way of Field Services we had intermittent contact until I met John again working on the HADAF contract for Malaysia. From that point we had a common interest in Malaysia as we both had Malaysian wives. We maintained regular contact through various projects and then project HADAF for Oman.

I would endorse everything that has been said about John about his friendly, easy going nature and his ability to sort out any problem which arose. John was dealing with the whole supply chain from sub-contractors to end users. His ability to find a way through the vagaries of foreign customs procedures and the challenges of ensuring that the materiel found its way to the right site was remarkable and a testimony to his attention to detail, perseverance and people skills. He was in every way part of the soul of the Marconi Company.

RIP John

Bryn M

John's and my paths crossed many times in Saudi and WRW on various contracts; he was a pleasure to work with and nothing was to much trouble for him. He had a great personality, was a top Team member with a good sense of humour.

Tony D

I remember John from Church Green, did not work with him but he seemed to be around the projects that I was on. As had been said by many, he was a great, amiable guy and always had a smile on his face. Rest in peace, John.

Roger N

I worked with John on a number of projects including 3 years with him in Malaysia on the Kawal project (93-96).  He was  an easy-going chap who worked hard and played even harder — especially fond of beer and Karaoke!.  I lost touch with him more recently though heard the occasional news through mutual friends.