Details

This interview with John Walling was conducted by Maria Watkins, the wife of former Mullard Research Laboratories employee, Tom Watkins. The interview took place 22 June 1999. John Walling joined the Vacuum Physics Laboratory (VPL) at Redhill on 6 October 1952, having obtained a PhD in Physics from the University of Leeds, where he worked on microwave tubes. He transferred to work on solid state physics and masers in 1957. In 1965 John succeeded Dr Kurt Hoselitz as Head of the Solid State Physics Division, a position which he retained until 1988. He also became Deputy Director of the laboratory in 1978. In this 76 minute interview John discusses his reasons for joining Mullard and the interaction between Mullard Electronic Research Laboratory and VPL. He also discusses his career, his work and the work of his colleagues for example his work with the British Post Office Research Laboratory at Dollis Hill on solid state masers in September 1961 and the subsequent Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station Telstar experiment. John also talks about later cooperation with GEC Research Laboratories and STC. Note: There is a problem with he last 6 minutes of the recording where the speech speed and pitch change dramatically. These last 6 minutes can only be deciphered with audio track editing software. [Digital version available. The interview is covered by two .wav files. The first file (side 1 of the tape) is 465Mb in size. The second file (side 2 of the tape) is 56Mb in size].