Simon, I never met King (he had resigned from BA a couple of years
before I joined Virgin Atlantic), but I did once attend a meeting which
was held in his (empty of course) office in London. He always gave me
the impression of being very 'posh', but in the light of your comments I
looked him up on Wikipedia:
King was born in Brentford <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brentford>,
Middlesex <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middlesex>. His father, Albert
John King, had fought in the First World War
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I>, and later worked as a
postman; his Irish-born mother, Kathleen King, worked as a seamstress.
He was the second of four children. He was reared on a small property
attached to a public house in Dunsfold
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunsfold>, Surrey. He left school in 1929
at the age of 12 without qualifications and started work in a local
factory which produced vacuum cleaners, where his work included
machining clamping stays, earning him the nickname "Clamping Stay
King"...........
After the war King, moved to Canada for a time, before returning to
England and building a factory on wasteland in Ferrybridge
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrybridge>, West Riding of Yorkshire
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Riding_of_Yorkshire> to establish
Ferrybridge Industries. After renaming it the Pollard Ball and Roller
Bearing Company
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollard_Ball_and_Roller_Bearing_Company>
and producing millions of ball bearings per year, it grew to become a
major operation spanning several continents (the third-largest
ball-bearing business in the UK). After being forced to merge the
business with another manufacturer, Ransome & Marles
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ransome_%26_Marles>, as part of a
government reorganisation of the ball bearing business, King sold it for
£10m in 1968, netting some £3m personally.
So not so posh. A real self-made man, albeit an imperfect one.
Incidentally, he was also a pilot with his own aircraft, which his wife
also flew.
Barry Humphreys
------ Original Message ------
From "srbrown via Mifnet" <[email protected]>
To [email protected]
Cc "srbrown" <[email protected]>
Date 06/10/2025 15:17:13
Subject [Mifnet 🛰 74419] Re: Oct 4 in history
I gather Thatcher liked King's previous business acumen but yes, King
brought in Marshall as the CEO to get stuff done.
The rewards were that the King became a Lord (technically a demotion)
but the Marshall became a Knight, which is definitely a step up.
Simon
-------- Original message --------
From: Tom Windmuller via Mifnet <[email protected]>
Date: 06/10/2025 09:34 (GMT+00:00)
To: [email protected]
Cc: Tom Windmuller <[email protected]>
Subject: [Mifnet 🛰 74416] Re: Oct 4 in history
He was a friend of Margaret Thatcher, but it still isn’t clear to me
how much of that turnaround was due to King. At the time, it seemed
much more of it was coming from Colin Marshall. (Sorry, SIR Colin
Marshall.).
tom w.
On Mon, 6 Oct 2025 at 10:20 srbrown via Mifnet
<[email protected]> wrote:
Yes, but he started out as plain old John King, which is much less
regal. He was only made Lord King (of Wartnaby) after turning the
dog's dinner that was BA into a profitable enterprise and occasional
purveyor of dirty tricks against innocent Virgins.
Simon
(Still a commoner)
-------- Original message --------
From: Tom Ronell via Mifnet <[email protected]>
Date: 06/10/2025 07:06 (GMT+00:00)
To: The Mifnet <[email protected]>
Cc: Tom Ronell <[email protected]>
Subject: [Mifnet 🛰 74413] Re: Oct 4 in history
Then there was BA Chairman Lord King.
Now there's a name....
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Rohan Garnett via Mifnet <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
CC: Randal Craft <[email protected]>; Rohan Garnett
<[email protected]>
Date: 2025-10-06T04:36:54Z
Subject: [Mifnet 🛰 74412] Re: Oct 4 in history
And SIR Basil to you all if you don’t mind! SOP for all BOAC CEO’s
back in the day
Rohan W. Garnett
Executive Manager Commercial Airports & Leasing
+61 423 023 106
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Randal Craft via Mifnet <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, October 6, 2025 5:50:20 AM
To:[email protected] <[email protected]>
Cc: Randal Craft <[email protected]>
Subject: [Mifnet 🛰 74409] Re: Oct 4 in history
University of Texas Professor Goodenough received the Nobel Prize. I
guess he was. Bob Sent from my iPhone Randal Craft Email:
randalrobertcraft@ gmail. com Mobile: 646-226-2299 (USA) On Oct 5,
2025, at 2: 33 PM, Tom Ronell via Mifnet <mifnet@ lists. mifnet. com>
University of Texas Professor Goodenough received the Nobel Prize. I
guess he was.
Bob
Sent from my iPhone
Randal Craft
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: 646-226-2299 (USA)
On Oct 5, 2025, at 2:33 PM, Tom Ronell via Mifnet
<[email protected]> wrote:

What a name: Basil Smallpiece.
Right up there with the woman on LinkedIn with the surname
Goodenough.
TR
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jack Keady via Mifnet <[email protected]>
To: David Wardell via Mifnet <[email protected]>
CC: Jack Keady <[email protected]>
Date: 2025-10-05T18:07:08Z
Subject: [Mifnet 🛰 74407] Oct 4 in history
Lee Cross
<https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.airwaysmag.com/lee-cross__;!!PUxuPyJo!wp-GLC6y6CXFi-NL39nuLsVMzQ2iCGMoctlwe03vVicPJe3fe61q8RngTzPb3qI0aAHYp73fcbnhV3ISeD1_$>
<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.airwaysmag.com/new-post/boac-first-transatlantic-jet-powered-flight?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email*__;Iw!!PUxuPyJo!wp-GLC6y6CXFi-NL39nuLsVMzQ2iCGMoctlwe03vVicPJe3fe61q8RngTzPb3qI0aAHYp73fcbnhV2frp54j$>
Oct 4, 2024 8:02 AM
EST
DALLAS — Today, in 1958, British Overseas Aircraft Corporation
(BOAC) launched the world's first jet-powered transatlantic flight.
auto skip
Airways Logo
Using the de Havilland Comet 4, BOAC beat rival Pan American to the
post by just three weeks, operating the first jet service across
the North Atlantic to New York. This was despite Pan Am launching a
high-profile advertising campaign, announcing their intention to
begin their service with the Boeing 707 on October 26.
G-APDB operated the eastbound flight, and G-APDC operated the
westbound. The two aircraft passed about 300 miles apart at 47°W
and 1335°Z. Sir Gerard d’Erlanger, BOAC’s Chairman, aboard the
westbound aircraft, and Basil Smallpiece, Managing Director, in the
eastbound aircraft, exchanged messages during the flights.
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