Part 2 (Obituaries) - King's College - University of Cambridge

200
OBITUARIES
years instead of the promised five. When the family was reunited Persia had
become Iran and Jim was a veteran flier of real aeroplanes.
From St Michael’s, Jim continued to Trent College in Derbyshire where he
became both Head Boy and Captain of the rugby and cricket teams. Like so
many in his generation Jim then had to put the thought of university studies
aside. Jim signed up for the Royal Air Force in 1942, a time when the Nazi
advance seemed unstoppable. His interest in flying had not abated since those
days with the model aeroplane. Jim was sent to Canada to complete pilot
training. He ended up at the very top of his class but this only meant, to his
frustration, more time on the school bench as he now also had to qualify as
a navigator. To the credit of his ability he was also among the best in his
navigation class, but this once again meant that fighting was postponed as he
was now made an instructor.
After his time as an instructor Jim flew in the Coastal Command operating out
of the Bahamas as the Captain of a long-range Liberator, a heavy bomber with
a crew of seven. In the last year of the war he was transferred to the Transport
Command and worked flying Canadian-produced Mosquito bombers over the
Atlantic, into Scotland. He later held the Mosquito as his favourite aircraft, for
its lack of autopilot and limited anti-icing devices, demonstrating his love
of adventure.
When the war came to an end Jim stayed in the Transport Command of the
RAF, flying VIPs and then troops from Karachi back to London. He was
demobilised with the rank of Flight Lieutenant in 1946. During his four years
in the RAF he had served for 2,000 flight hours as a pilot or navigator.
In 1947 Jim came to King’s to read Mechanical Sciences. He was tutored by
the demanding King’s Fellow Lord Caldecote but found time to perfect his
badminton skills as part of the King’s team. The team even toured the
Continent. One of Jim’s badminton partners was Lee Kuan Yew, who went
on to be the phenomenally long-serving Prime Minister of Singapore from
1959 to 1990. Jim’s experience as an undergraduate at King’s became rather
special when he had the rare chance of taking up residence in Gibbs