Herbert William Lane
Herbert William Lane (c1891-1851)
1953 Obituary [1]
HERBERT WILLIAM LANE. O.B.E., was in the service of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, Ltd., for almost thirty years. He was educated at Deal College and West Cliffe College, Ramsgate, and attended classes for technical instruction at Wimbledon and Luton Institutes.
His practical training was obtained in the drawing office of Mr. J. P. Maginnis, Westminster, mechanical engineer, and in the shops of the Vauxhall and West Hydraulic Engineering Company, between 1907 and 1912.
He was then employed as outside foreman to Messrs. Plenty and Sons, Newbury, before joining H.M. Forces in 1915, in which he served for seven years. During this period he was first engaged as a mechanic in the Royal Naval Air Service, transferring later to the Corps of Royal Engineers in which he rose to the rank of lieutenant and saw much service at Gallipoli, in France, and Iraq, finally being in charge of the workshop and power house at Baghdad.
He joined the staff of the Anglo-Iranian Company in 1922 as an assistant engineer and successively held the positions of superintendent engineer of the central workshops and area superintendent. In 1935 he was promoted to be chief field superintendent with responsibility for all technical operations in seven oil fields. He became deputy fields manager in 1937 and fields manager later in the year. His final appointment, which he held from 1944, was that of general fields manager. In this capacity his responsibilities were greatly increased. They included, besides exploration, development, and production, the supervision of expenditure and the organization of all branches of the company's operations in Iran.
Mr. Lane was elected an Associate Member of the Institution in 1931 and transferred to Membership in 1945, in which year he was appointed O.B.E.
His death occurred on 8th August 1951 at the age of sixty.