XXXIV 



Obituary Notices of Fellows deceased. 



right. All he wanted was to get the best out of whatever work he was 

 doing ; it was the good quality of the work he cared for, not any personal 

 credit in connection with it. ; This tendency to think of his work and not of 

 himself was appreciated at the Eoyal Aircraft Factory, and is described in 

 the ' Court Journal ' of October 20, 191.6, where the writer adds : " I wish 

 there were more like him in that way." 



When the war broke out he at once became a volunteer, and did useful 

 work in patrolling the road to Newmarket on a motor bicycle. He then 

 passed the medical examination for the Honourable Artillery Company, and 

 was about to enlist as a private in the infantry battalion. Just then I 

 happened to meet him, and realised at once that his value to the country 

 would be far greater if he worked at the Royal Aircraft Factory, and a 

 telephone conversation with Colonel O'Gorman, Superintendent of the Eoyal 

 Aircraft Factory, the same day, removed all doubt, and he began work at 

 once. 



His scientific training and attainments, his knowledge of the manufacture 

 of scientific instruments, and his remarkable powers of design and research, 

 eiiabled him to do most valuable work there. Colonel O'Gorman, C.B., Keith 

 Lucas' commanding officer, and Superintendent of the Eoyal Aircraft Factory 

 during the two years he worked there, writes : — 



" Shortly after the outbreak of war, amongst those who flocked to the 

 colours was Keith Lucas. He was a straight, well-knit man, slender, but 

 active, with a body exceptionally finely controlled by an energetic mind. 

 He was young for the manifold scientific honours which distinguished him, 

 but he was so far from over-appreciating himself that at one time he was 

 about to enlist as a private. But, instead of this, he was able to use his 

 rare scientific abilities in improving military aeronautics. 



" By a lucky chance, I had the opportunity of giving him work at the 

 Eoyal Aircraft Factory after he had passed the medical examination for the 

 Honourable Artillery Company. 



" I had previously met him when staying in Cambridge, and had heard 

 him discuss questions of mechanical design. This was enough to leave no 

 doubt of his utility, and I seized the suggestion of his joining the . Eoyal 

 Aircraft Factory. 



" For Lucas this meant leaving his home at Cambridge, and giving up his 

 original scientific work in Physiology, which was the dominant and 

 all-absorbing interest of his life. 



" He arrived at the Eoyal Aircraft Factory on September 4, 1914, and 

 after living at Fleet for some months, took up his residence in the little 

 wooden hut, 12 feet by 10 feet, which was the only possible means of being 

 housed in the crowded neighbourhood, where workpeople were sleeping as 

 many as 11 in a six-roomed cottage, or using in pairs, for alternate day and 

 night work, the same beds. To be near his work was essential, as in summer 

 he was often flying at dawn. 



