Location: United Kingdom
Member Since:
May 16, 2016
Francis Dolan
Biography
After leaving school at age 15 in December 1951, Francis served as a Train Register Lad with British Rail and then joined the Royal Navy age 16 years and 3 months in March 1952 serving 24 years in the Fleet Air Arm as an Electrical Artificer, the final 15 years as 1st class. Artificer (Chief Petty Officer). Francis at the age of 40 then retired to civilian life having a variety of employment mainly as Technical Author.
From January 1980 until June 1984 he worked in South Africa; firstly in the aircraft industry with Atlas Aircraft Corporation as a Senior Instructor teaching Avionics, Auto-pilot Systems and aircraft electrical systems to apprentices and South African Air force personnel. Francis then joined Fulman SA as specialist low power engineer, building the finely controlled power units for the Stellenbosch Matter Accelerometer.
On return to the UK he re-entered the technical author world with various companies, before turning freelance in 1991 when taking a contract with BNFL Sellafield in Cumbria. After eleven years mostly writing maintenance documentation for THORP he retired in 2002 to his present address on the Gower in South Wales.
Francis decided to write this novel after studying his twin granddaughters who also live on the Gower and remembering tales told to him when a young boy by his own grandfather. The Gower landscape and general feeling encouraged the novel.
From January 1980 until June 1984 he worked in South Africa; firstly in the aircraft industry with Atlas Aircraft Corporation as a Senior Instructor teaching Avionics, Auto-pilot Systems and aircraft electrical systems to apprentices and South African Air force personnel. Francis then joined Fulman SA as specialist low power engineer, building the finely controlled power units for the Stellenbosch Matter Accelerometer.
On return to the UK he re-entered the technical author world with various companies, before turning freelance in 1991 when taking a contract with BNFL Sellafield in Cumbria. After eleven years mostly writing maintenance documentation for THORP he retired in 2002 to his present address on the Gower in South Wales.
Francis decided to write this novel after studying his twin granddaughters who also live on the Gower and remembering tales told to him when a young boy by his own grandfather. The Gower landscape and general feeling encouraged the novel.