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Why didn’t I start sooner?
The eternal cry of those who work to deadlines, and who doesn’t? Material starts coming in for next year’s edition even before the current year’s has hit the doormat, but by then I’ve moved on to something else. Should I follow up the new emails now, or leave them for later, etc, etc? So here we are in January, with precious little time to get the issue ready for the printer at the end of the month, and I’m running into the late January conflict between this publication and the village newsletter. Both need the same PC and we’re reluctant to lash out on a lap-top to cope with this once a year panic.
In this issue there is an emphasis on the years around 1912, and the company’s maritime heritage. Marconi often said that the aspect of wireless which gave him the greatest satisfaction was its use in saving life and property at sea, and a major part of the company’s early output was ships’ communications equipment. In this issue we feature the loss in mid-Atlantic of the White Star liner SS Titanic, the bravery of her radio officer Jack Phillips, and his connection with the transatlantic telegraph station in Connemara. Perhaps the most significant event in the past year has been the donation to Chelmsford of an historically valuable collection of early marine radio equipment assembled by a former radio officer, Bill Waters, which he bequeathed to the town shortly before his recent death.