LEO editor

David Tebbs Date of Birth: October 1938, joined LEO 1964 left 1969 Memoir:
I joined the company earlier enough to qualify for the society, starting work at
Hartree House. However, I was assigned mainly onto a KDF 9 client project and then and
System 4 Sales. My only LEO computer work was self- study of the LEO coding manual
(to fill in 3 weeks awaiting my first programming course – which turned out to be KDF9)
and taking on, as area manager, responsibility for the Lyons’ account shortly after their
computer room fire. Even the latter was short lived as I was then promoted to set up and
run the new Real Time department.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/x1060y7bk8djvf7/David%20Tebbs%20memoir.doc?dl=0
For a listing of David’s current activities (October 2018) see
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/davidtebbs###

John Thompson , born 4th January, 1935, joined LEO with no knowledge of computers
But got some very good training and education at the training centre. I worked on the
LEO I II and III as maintenance engineer and later at Minerva Road building and
installing systems I do recall some funny things One year we selected the wrong cow as
the winner at the dairy show, and we did payroll for the RAF officers and once made an
error that made every officer donate half his pay to RAF Benevolent Society but the
problems were always fixed very quickly and considering the amount of work being done
it was good for the early time in that industry.
I installed a number of systems in the UK and we had very few delays in the scheduled
handover to the customer thanks to fast response to any calls for help
I was just one of a great team that worked hard and had FUN. Later I moved to Canada
and completed my career
there.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wgeg807wthgqsa5/John%20Thompson%20memoir.doc?dl=0

John Tomlinson, LEO Operator. Bob Stevenson notes: “The John Tomlinson that I knew was an
operator and shift leader on III/1 in Hartree House. I knew him well and I can’t remember
him mentioning that he worked on Leo1. The picture is dated in John Bird’s book as
1953, which would make John T., pretty young at the time I would guess. I remember
that it was John who went to Moscow to work on a demonstration Leo III at a Computer
Show there. I wanted to go but the Bureau management wouldn’t let me, so I nominated
John.”

MINISTRY OF PENSIONS & NATIONAL INSURANCE
In 1960 I was working at MPNI in Coventry. Our payroll was put onto a Leo II in
January 1961 but I never saw the machine. I do remember that the printer had a limited
character set because instead of using the figure 8 it used capital S and instead of zero it
used O.
DUNLOP RUBBER CO LTD
My first programming job was at Fort Dunlop in Birmingham on Leo III/3. I
started there in 1963. My first program was part of the payroll suite. I remember there
was a complaint from one of the rubber workers that he’d worked a lot of overtime but
only been paid just over £2:00:00. It turned out that he should have received £102:00:00
but the program only allowed for £99:19:11.There was another occasion when the
payroll system crashed overnight and the Coventry factory workers were going to get
their wages late. Our manager arranged that all those programming staff who lived in
Coventry should go straight to the factory and help fill the pay packets. When we arrived
we were not asked to show any identity but were given a case containing £2,000 in used
notes and pointed in the direction of a room where we could work. The next suite I
worked on was the Production Control System for aircraft parts at the Coventry factory
still written in INTERCODE. We had our programs punched onto on 80 column cards.
When we needed to do amendments we punched those ourselves using a hand punch. We
rarely added comments as these involved multi-punches (pressing 2 or 3 keys together to
get a character). In 1964 we started using CLEO for a suite of programs we wrote for
Dunlop Footwear in Winsford. So then our programs were perforated onto paper tape.
When we had to perforate our amendments we got to use a decent Creed machine with a
QWERTY keyboard. By this time Leo III/3 was filling up with production work so Dunlop
ordered another machine. I know one of our managers wanted an IBM 360 but
we got the first Leo 360. By now we were getting just one amend & trial per day even
though III/3 was running 24 hours a day. While we were waiting for delivery of LEO
III/23 some of us had to do our trials at BOC in Swinton Manchester on LEO III/13.
Each Monday we went up there and took a few mag tapes in a car. On the last week we
realised we had 57 mag tapes to bring back but we did manage to fit them all in the Mini
around the passengers.
TOTE INVESTORS LTD
In 1966 I got a job as Senior Programmer at LEO III/21. We were just
maintaining an accounting system that had been written in INTERCODE. We wrote later
programs in CLEO. A major incident while I was there was an infestation of iron filings.
The air conditioning system had managed to spread these liberally around the computer
room. The Leo III was out of action for a week while engineers wearing protective
clothing vacuum-cleaned every piece of hardware. While they were doing that we used
one of the GPO machines at Charles House in Kensington. Just before I left Tote I was
invited to the Minerva Road factory to see the new System 4.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/cndh08h4iy95lsy/Mike%20Tyzack%20Memoir.doc?dl=0

I am eighty years old and not in very good health at the moment.
I started my career in computers by learning to program in basic machine code
and Intercode, on a Leo II at Whitely house in London in 1959/60.
In fact I wrote, in machine code, the ‘Boot strap’ program to load up and start the
operating system running for Leo III.
The company I was working for, a subsidiary of the South African mining house Rand
Mines, took delivery on one LEO III.
Leo Fantl pays tribute to her contribution, as the first programmer recruited by him in
South Africa in chapter 25 of the Incredible Story Of the First Business Computer

Alan Wakefield: On 21 Jun 2019, at 19:56, Alan Wakefield wrote: Dear Hilary, Your note below has prompted me to offer a personal reminiscence of LEO-related activity, or more specifically LEO personnel – related events, and relating in particular to your father, David Caminer. ( If you will permit this!). I was not an original LEO person, but, originally as an early 60’s ICT recruit, I had the good fortune, in the late 1960’s/70’s, to work in a group led by David in the newly – formed ICL New Range Planning Group in ICL House, Putney, shortly after the formation of the ICL merger of the former ICT and EELM ( and other subsids.) British computer companies. David’s role and contribution to this phase of ICL’s development is well documented and applauded. I have an amusing (I hope) small episode during my time in that group, which I hope may be of interest to you, and some others. For reasons undisclosed to me at that time, part of our NR planning activities required ICL to partake in some discussions with the French computer industry, in connection with theirPlan Calcul, and their CII computer company, based near Versailles, west of Paris, as I recall. (There was a lot of political activity in Europe at that time with the proposals to form a “European” computer organisation involving the French, German and Italian computer companies ; but not initially the British!)
A small group of four(?) of us from ICL, led by David (I can’t recall the other two
participants) were delegated to go to CII ( Paris ) and have some exploratory discussions;
I’m not sure about what, but it was probably about whether ICL could participate in the
joint European plans, and whether any of their products or technology had relevance for
ICL’s New Range plans.
We set off from Putney, in David’s company car ( as I recall a Ford Zephyr 6 of the
period; very angular and dark green? (actually yellow: Editor) The vehicle was an
adapted automatic to facilitate David’s driving), with David driving us “ in spirited style”
( we were late!) to Heathrow airport for a flight to Paris.
The next stages are a bit hazy, but we arrived and were accommodated near Versailles (
which was close to the Bull/ CII works complex.) The following day we were taken to the
CII complex for a series of meetings and viewings of the facility, and tour of the site.
Whilst walking around the facilities, David was in full flow animated conversation with
their senior executives ( we were following in the rear!). Passing through one of the areas,
he tripped slightly, and then keeled over gracefully, but immediately bounced back up on
the rebound, rather like a rubber ball, and without any break in the flow of conversation! (
We from ICL were, of course, not unfamiliar with David’s occasional “tumbles” with his
prosthetic leg). The French were gobsmacked and bewildered at this; after that episode,
the they could not do enough to accommodate whatever requirements our delegation had
on CII and David was celebrated as the war hero he was.
I don’t think the talks finally led to anything for ICL, but the episode certainly gave us in
ICL more fine anecdotal material about a fine gentlemen, on which to reminisce!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/fqzvpc5ftyle00w/Alan%20Wakefield%20reminiscence

Harry Warner: I worked as an operator on the CAV – Lucas, Leo III at
Acton (High Street ?) from October 1963 to April 1964.
One of my clearest (and dearest) memories is of a blond haired engineer (from
Somerset?) who would get the printer to “play” God Save the Queen.
I later programmed on the IBM 360 at Castrol, became Manager of Computer
Services at Lever Bros. Canada and later was a Professor of Business Computing at
Ryerson University in Toronto.
I retired at age 47 and live on a small commune in BC.

Tony Weber: LEO Australia. “I was in the founding management group
(Accountant/finance director) of the Australian subsidiary in the early 1960’s under the
management of Peter Gyngell.
I had 25 years service with the Leo/ICL group of Companies, which then lead to another
30 years in the industry including service in Hong Kong then Boston USA. I spent the last
18 years up to 2015 on the Board of the public Company Prophecy International Limited;
an Australian listed software Company.
I have great memories of Leo, and the service it provided to the Australian business
community in the early computer days, and enriched employment to 100’s of staff in the
IT industry.”

Tony Weber: LEO Australia. “I was in the founding management group
(Accountant/finance director) of the Australian subsidiary in the early 1960’s under the
management of Peter Gyngell.
I had 25 years service with the Leo/ICL group of Companies, which then lead to another
30 years in the industry including service in Hong Kong then Boston USA. I spent the last
18 years up to 2015 on the Board of the public Company Prophecy International Limited;
an Australian listed software Company.
I have great memories of Leo, and the service it provided to the Australian business
community in the early computer days, and enriched employment to 100’s of staff in the
IT industry.”

Geoff Weston, I read your piece in U3A Matters with great interest as I believe that I
was involved with the first use of computing in the civil engineering industry. I worked
for John Laing Ltd. (now Laing O’Rourke) under John Mason who was Project
Surveyor. In ’58/’59 I was a very junior surveyor on the London to Yorkshire motorway
(M1) when a capable body was needed for a boring but important task. I drew, on
specially printed pro-forma sheets, cross sectional profiles of the construction at 100 foot
intervals (chainages) of our “B” section from Ampthill to North of Newport Pagnell,
about 650 in total. I added all the data points numerically and passed these sheets to the
boss who combined them with other three sections and sent them to Cadby Hall where
this enormous piece of kit called Leo worked out the total volumes of soil cut out, placed
in cuttings, spread as topsoil etc.etc. This was to check the Ministry of Transport’s
figures and I understand that there was a significant difference therefore value. I never
heard anything more about this and it seems to have escaped into the mists of time. By
coincidence, my grandfather, uncle and other relatives worked at Cadby Hall.