If
I had been more inquisitive I may have discovered that Dad too had worked in Leicestershire instead of being in ignorance for 55 years until I stumbled upon his Identity Card which
showed his address before 67 Twelve Acre Crescent as being 9 New Walk, Leicester. New Walk is one of Leicester’s most desirable streets and now a conservation area.The surviving documents from that period reveal little of what Leslie Knight may have done at Whetstone. However he was most likely a draughtsman. He had been offered such a job at the Ministry of Aircraft Production in 1942 but was not released by the R.A.F. It is known that he gave up his job with Blundells Engineering Co. in June 1947 and he was instructed by telegram to report to the Ministry of Supply on 29th July. He was with Power Jets in time to receive a copy of the Director’s, Roxbee Cox letter to employees when he left to become Chief Scientist to the Ministry of Fuel and Power in August 1948.
Any research into the history of Power Jets Ltd is likely to reveal its base as being in Lutterworth but they had grown out of their Ladywood Works by 1942 and it was then used only as a training school. Papers from as late as 1948s consistently refer to ‘The School of Gas Turbine Technology’ at Lutterworth with research and development at Whetstone and Pyestock.
Whilst little is recorded about my father’s time at Whetstone and I don’t recall him speaking of his time there, his old files reveal the interesting fact that Pyestock was operational by 1944. The files also contain a number of photographs, unfortunately with little accompanying description but they are nevertheless presented below with the information that exists.
Malcolm Knight 20 September 2007.
