Messerschmidtt Bf109E-1 (4822) crash 22/10/1940

[John Andrews]

Jaap,

I first worked in Holland in 1969 at the European Space Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk-aan-Zee as an IT contractor processing telemetry data from the ESRO 1a and ESRO 1b satellites which were built there and launched in america by american scout rockets. The software was written in fortran and when I couldn't get enough time on the computer at ESTEC I used to drive to Darmstadt and use the computer at the Space Control Centre there at night.
Then I worked until 1972 as an IT contractor at Philips in Eindhoven on Bill Of Material Processing (BOMP) software. The first year was spent in 'Plan Q' in Emmersingel developing standards for the software to be used in Philips factories world-wide. The last 2 years were spent in the RGT (Radio Gramophone & TV) factory implementing the standards there and acting as an 'advice centre' for BOMP users within Philips.

I also went to the Philips factory in Leuven to help with the software there.

But I never got as far as visiting Philips in Apeldoorn, or any other Philips sites.

I worked as an IT contractor for many years for IBM in Germany and for banks in Germany and for Rhurgas in Essen.

I also did IT contract in Italy and of course in the UK at several different companies such as IBM and Norwich Union.

I retired at the end of 2024.

John