Bill Mitchell at Droitwich in 1984
1929 - 2023
Obituary by Bert Gallon
William (Bill) Mitchell, former general manager, Transmission Operations, has died aged 94. Born in Lossiemouth and educated locally, he joined the BBC as a Youth-in-Training at the nearby Burghead Transmitting Station. He had moved from Burghead to Skelton prior to being called up for National Service in 1947, and he was one of the few national servicemen selected to spend their two years in the Royal Navy, rather than the RAF or Army. He considered making the Navy his career, but decided to return to the BBC and accepted an appointment as a technical assistant at Droitwich Transmitting Station. This was where he met his wife, Jean, and they were married in 1953. Jean, who was a secretary at Droitwich, had to leave the BBC as married women were not then allowed to work at the same premises as their husbands.
Bill had, by this time, qualified as an engineer, and he undertook attachments at Sutton Coldfield and Truleigh Hill, prior to obtaining a permanent engineer post at Tacolneston. More senior appointments followed. He was appointed assistant engineer-in-charge at Sandale in 1959, engineer-in-charge at Thrumster in 1963, and engineer-in-charge Holme Moss, in 1967. Having sampled the work of Transmission Head Office in London, during an attachment, Bill was eventually persuaded to move on a permanent basis, and he did so as assistant chief engineer, Transmission, in 1979. The job title was changed and it was general manager, Transmission Operations at the time of Bill’s retirement in 1989.
Throughout those ten years Bill was responsible for the operation and maintenance of all of the BBC’s transmitting stations. It was a period of major changes. The ongoing automation programme had embraced a number of high and medium-power stations by this time, which resulted in a large number of staffing changes and the related reorganisation of the maintenance bases. At the same time as successfully managing and implementing the changes and reorganisation, he took the opportunity to introduce some improvements in maintenance methods, and to pursue a long-held wish of decentralising activities from Head Office and increasing the involvement and skills of staff at transmitting stations. Staff training and development were high priorities for Bill, and he could look back with satisfaction, when he retired, at what he had achieved in developing staff for more senior appointments.
As he approached retirement, the decision was made to amalgamate Transmission Operations and Transmitter Capital Projects and to relocate the staff from Central London and Brookmans Park to a new location at Warwick. There was no question of him taking a back seat and relaxing. The enthusiastic and painstaking approach that had characterised his whole career was again evident in the support he provided and the part he played in helping to ensure that the amalgamation of departments and the move to Warwick were successful. We missed him when he retired, and not only for his commitment and what he achieved, but for his company, socially, as well as at work.
For Bill, retirement meant goodbye to engineering. Being an engineer, he claimed, was related solely to his time with the BBC. He and Jean moved to Carlisle to begin a new life in which charity work was to become the beneficiary. He set up and managed the Carlisle branch of the tools for self-reliance project, which involved the collection and refurbishment of a wide range of tools that were distributed overseas, mainly to countries in Africa, and he continued to play a part in the organisation until relatively recently.
Bill’s wife, Jean, predeceased him, and our sympathy is extended at this sad time to his children, David, Jane, and Timothy.