William Edmund Edwards
William Edmund Edwards (1907-1949)
1950 Obituary [1]
"WILLIAM EDMUND EDWARDS , who was born in 1907, received his technical education at the South Wales and Monmouthshire School of Mines, Treforest, obtaining a first-class final certificate of the City and Guilds College in mechanical engineering. On the completion of a seven years' apprenticeship with Cardiff Collieries, Ltd., in 1930, he was appointed assistant to the chief engineer of the Powell, Duffryn Steam Coal Company, Ltd., with sole responsibility for the maintenance of the compressed air plant.
On leaving this firm in 1934 he held several short appointments, including that of first-class draughtsman in the Royal Aircraft Establishment, at Farnborough, where he was responsible for the design of small aircraft components. In 1937 he joined the staff of Messrs. Vickers-Armstrongs, Ltd., at Dartford, as a draughtsman, and was promoted to be chief draughtsman two years later. He was subsequently chief engineer to the Clyde Drilling Equipment Company, Ltd., of Dagenham, but joined the Research Section of Fairey Aviation Company, Ltd., in December 1944, where as engineer he was responsible for a number of secret Ministry of Supply contracts, including the guided weapon "Stooge". Mr. Edwards, whose death occurred in 1949, was elected an Associate Member of the Institution in 1945."