Through the last three generations, I, my father and my grandfather have all been employed in high tech professions, father and I have also had high tech leisure interests as well Granddad was an under
aged volunteer at the beginning of the 1914- 18 conflict,
I believe he had been an apprentice in the "Press" prier to enlisting and was trained by the Royal Naval Flying Corp., to become radio operator in dirigible airships.(images blimp1 & blimp2)
The shape was maintained by internal pressure and the cut of the envelope fabric. The gondola had a machine gun supported on a pivot that allowed it to be pointed in most directions, the crew also had personal side arms. The role of the airships
was as long range recognisance, to detect enemy naval movements in the
Atlantic. He was awarded the distinguished flying medal for saving another crew members life when they were downed in the sea. (I don't know whether they were downed by enemy action, weather or for some other reason). He was hospitalised with stomach wounds. The first Grandma (fiancée/wife?) knew of the medal was an
article in the local paper. Granddad always insisted it was for being
consistently first in the beer queue, a plausible explanation as in
middle age he would drink six pints of Guinness a night and chain smoke
forty cigarettes a work shift. The smoking habit was especially strange
as grandma always had a weak heart and lungs so granddad never smoked
at home. After WWI Granddad went back to the national news papers as radio/telegraph operator (images shack1 & shack2) He claimed he and some friends had a "past the post" betting scam going using radio Morse to inform cross country, they avoided detection partly on the basis that they could recognise the "touch" of other operators and could therefore exchange info. without call signs or other id.
Over all Granddad
was effectively into e-mail with attachments before most of us were born.
~~~~~~~ Back of Airship photo
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