Gilbert F FERN DFM; 1918-2010 (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Tuesday, June 03, 2014, 03:02 (3832 days ago) @ DavidFromScowles

I had the great pleasure of being taught by Mr Fern while attending the Royal Forest of Dean Grammar School at Berry Hill from 1973-1978. This new School opened in 1968 to replace Bells at Coleford and EDGS at Cinderford; several of our oldest teachers had previously taught at those Grammar Schools. By then he was "only" teaching Technical Drawing, easily my favourite subject. Mr Fern was always immaculately attired in dark grey suit, despite the risk of stray chalk dust, it was incredible how well and accurately he could "draw" using sharpened chalk on a vertical blackboard, even using a huge wooden (pair of ?)compass for circles and arcs !
He was a kind, patient but firm teacher. I only recently learnt of his RAF history from my mother's "Oak Leaves" magazine, otherwise I'd never have guessed he'd been a daring war hero, like so many of his generation he probably never mentioned it.
Thanks Mr Fern for teaching me how to draw isometric projections etc, and to buy good quality hard pencils from WHS Gloster, I still doodle "3D" nuts and bolts nowadays and sometimes with the stubs of those same 1970s pencils !. I wonder what he made of the CAD computer systems that replaced his drawing boards and correctly-cleaned hands and instruments ?.

I searched-out this thread on finding this tribute, thanks to Mike Pinchin for highlighting this excellent site earlier.
http://www.deanweb.info/war.html

Even more detail of this deed can be found here, including
"Gatward took off with Fern in pouring rain. As he got to the French coast the rain stopped and the sun came out. Even though he had not been given permission, Gatwood decided to take the risk and fly low level over enemy territory, in fact seldom more than 30 feet above the ground. "I'll never forget the astonishment of the crowd in the Paris streets as we swept low at rooftop level. They had been taken completely by surprise," he was to recall later. The gun fire terrified the SS troops who, much to Gatward's delight, were seen running for their lives. Fern, the quiet ex-schoolmaster from the Forest of Dean, with a large smile on his face dropped the second part of the Tricolour.
Throughout the raid Fern had been taking photographs and they were both delighted with a clear picture of a large notice outside the Grand Palais which read "La Vie Nouvelle" ("New Life"). The French crow, or what was left of it, was removed and laid to rest at RAF Northolt when Gatward landed.
http://www.pprune.org/archive/index.php/t-501451.html

After my RX apprenticeship I moved to West London in 1982 and worked for various aviation companies, mainly Forces related. By complete coincidence we live immediately under the landing flightpath into RAF Northolt abt a mile away, great for occasionally spotting old planes, especially the Spitfire & Hurricane displays on Battle of Britain Day. I do wish I'd met Mr Fern in recent years to ask about classic aircraft such as his Bristol Beaufighter. I remember we had time off lessons at school to watch the TV coverage of Concorde's inaugural flight, from the same Bristol Company's airfield at Filton to Toulouse in 1976; I wonder if Mr Fern arranged this rare treat for us ALL to enjoy ?.

RIP Mr Fern.

http://www.gloucestercitizen.co.uk/Teacher-war-hero-dies/story-11858128-detail/story.html