days, the bfi), BAFTA, BUFVC, NFTVA, the Directors Guild, the Krasna-Kraus Foundation, the CTBF (for which we are making a film), the CTV Veterans, all have links to our activities.

Personal interests of committee members have often led to extracurricular events screenings, observing anniversaries, seminars, and the like. In January at BAFTA, for instance, under the Project’s auspices, Kevin Browniow gave an illustrated account of the film restorations he and his associates have undertaken over the last twenty years. The Century of Cinema year in 1995 was of especial interest to us and we were instrumental in furthering memorial plaques to several neglected industry pioneers.

For the past fifteen years the History Project has pursued a fairly simple, clear-cut course and - somewhat to our surprise for, like Topsy, it just grew - has developed into a national resource as the most extensive and comprehensive archive in its field. That being so the time has come necessarily to reformulate. Of pressing need is for the recordings to be transcribed. This is a costly project and only one fifth or so of the tapes have yet been transferred to paper, mostly by labour of love. Thoughts inevitably turn to the Heritage Lottery Fund and very carefully an application is in preparation for a grant which over a phased period, should ultimately have the archive on-line and on CD-ROM not only for research but for educational and public access purposes. Such an ambitious undertaking would require professional supervision and take us into a new and seriously funded era - but the personal friendly, dedicated nature of our individual contributions will continue.

New and younger blood, gruesome as that sounds, is not only welcome, it is essential if the Project is to continue and thrive. There are lacunae in our gatherings from the past but we also recognise that, with the awesome speed of electronic media development, new areas are opening up such as Interactivity - which must also be covered.

The History Project was an unlikely baby that unexpectedly has thrived beautifully. Its committee is open by invitation to anyone seriously interested in contributing to its activities. If that’s you and you would like to know more please contact us through Bob Allen at AMPS or via the Project’s honorary secretary at rickharley@hotmail.com

ROY FOWLER

PIONEERS OF ELECTRONICS DIE

The recent deaths of William Hewlett (87) and Alexander (Al) Gross (82) may cause no flood of tears from today’s generation of mobile phone and PC users but both played important roles in the invention and development of the equipment they now take for granted.

WILLIAM HEWLETT 1914 - 2001

In 1938 William Hewlett, an electrical engineer, along with a David Packard, set up a small electronics company in Palo Alto, California. Hewlett-Packard became one of America’s largest electronics firms.

Their first big break came when Disney Studios asked them for eight audio oscillators in connection with the production of Fantasia. The company went on to develop many of the key technological innovations of the past 60 years including electronic calculators and the first PCs.

With an initial investment of $538, they created the first ‘Silicon Valley’ company and last year Hewlett-Packard and its satellites had a combined revenue of over $5.5 billion. David Packard predeceased Hewlett in 1996.

ALEXANDER GROSS 1918 - 2000

 In 1938, Al Gross made the first hand held, two-way radio transceiver that became know as his ‘Walkie-Talkie’, a  name which became as commonly used as ‘fridge’, Hoover, or ‘movies’.

During World War II, working for US Strategic Services, he designed a ground to air radio system with a range of 30 miles that was used by allied agents in enemy territory to send their reports to overhead allied aircraft.

After the the war he formed the Citizens Radio Corporation and successfully lobbied the US Government to establish a personal radio licence spectrum, the Citizen’s Band.

In 1947 Gross developed printed circuitry with miniaturised components for his radio devices and laid the ground work for the cellular phone industry. The personal pager and cordless phone soon followed. Many of his patents were sold to Motorola.

The secret technology behind the ground-to-air system he developed for the Strategic Services was eventually declassified in 1976 leading the way to the cellular explosion that transformed global communications.