Sir Frederick Page played a leading role in both design and management in some of the most advanced post-war military combat aircraft programmes in the UK. However, he had a secret. Towards the end of his life he wrote his memoirs, sealed them in an envelope and entrusted it to the Royal Aeronautical Society for safe keeping. He left strict instructions that it should not be opened until after his death. The memoirs and now safely held at the National Aerospace Library.

The first man to study Sir Frederick Page’s memoir in depth was Keith Hayward and in this lecture, he draws extensively from the manuscript to discuss his early years and training, how he rose to the top of English Electric at Warton and his work on the English Electric’s Canberra and Lightning, and the TSR2.

Prof Keith Hayward addressed the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Historical Group on 6th October 2006 and the podcast was edited by Mike Stanberry FRAeS.