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MEMORIES BARRY STAYNES "I think we should note the tremendous input to the development of the Civil Engineers Club made by Bill Francis. His enthusiasm during his Chairmanship was significant in the development of the Thomas Telford Trophy National Golf Tournament. This stimulated further diversification of the Club into the many other activities that we now enjoy. He will be remembered for the tremendous input that he made to the Club."
ROBERT FREER My generation were fortunate to start work when those who were our superiors had a good fund of stories of their experiences during the war, especially of events when there was need for immediate action on your own initiative. Sir Alan Harris, a strong francophile, had many such stories but one I liked in particular was the job of finding out the carrying capacity of a French canal damaged during the fighting. The French army sent a team of hydrographic surveyers who carefully surveyed the whole canal, took their measurements back to the office and about month later worked out the maximum size of barge the canal could carry. A British RE sargeant collected a number of barges of different sizes, strung them behind a tug, the smallest at the front, the largest at the back, and towed the train down the canal. Every time a barge went aground it was cast off, and by the end of the day the largest barge still attached was the carrying capacity of the canal. The answer in one day.
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