Biographies

Neil 'Scouse' McQueen

Neil was a member of the ACC and was posted to Singapore in December 1962 on an emergency posting to cover an impending strike by Chinese Chefs in BMH. He had come from Millbank Military Hospital where he was a dietician and strategically placed in Gillman Barracks to be on hand for any move into BMH. The strike did not come to fruition but Neil had been placed on the strength of 84 Svy Sqn RE and on 12 January 1963 was posted with Bob Pomroy and Myself to Kuching where we became founder members of Det. 84 Svy Sqn RE (later to become No. 1 Topo Troop) in Sarawak. On the expiry of his emergency posting he was offered the opportunity to extend for a full three year period which he duly accepted. (Too good to pass up.)

Later he became a member of the Nanga Ga'at Brigade where he promptly introduced edible cooked food to 845 NACS RN. He became an instant star with the Royal Navy and did wonders for the co-operation we had been promised from the aforementioned,  not to mention the fact that he never had to buy any drinks in the 'Anchor Inn' for quite some time thereafter. Neil became quite an accomplished Malay speaker and generally looked after the locally employed Iban workforce when other members of the Troop were not available. He also organised the re-supply drops to the field teams as well as frequently operating the Base radio, 'Zulu Zulu.' Neil did his fair share of jungle bashing, sometimes accompanying the survey teams when we had to take additional guns into restricted border areas. Indeed when I left the troop in September 1965, he took my place in the field, armed with a Wild T3 and an MRA2 Tellurometer.

On his return from the Far East, he was posted to 14 Fld Svy Sqn RE where he served for another full term, regularly accompanying the field survey teams on exercise. On leaving the army, he returned to his native Liverpool before settling down in Runcorn, where he took up his former occupation of 'welder.' He worked for many years for the Ford Motor Company at their Hailwood plant and eventually became an instructor at Ford's apprentice school. For the last twenty years, Neil and his wife Norma have been regular members of a small group of ex surveyors and their wives who have regularly met up for weekend get-togethers and even holidays abroad, not forgetting several reunions both at the School and elsewhere.