Sunday 5 July 2009

Uncle Bunt, hero, has died.

Very sadly, Paul's great uncle Bunt has died. He was 80 years old and an heroic figure. His working life was spent at the Grantham site of BMARC, the British Manufacture and Research Company. Many of Paul's relatives worked at this arms factory which specialised in the design and production of aircraft cannon and naval anti-aircraft cannon, including his mother and his grandfather. It was either that or the chicken processing plant for Grantham's working class. Albert Pulling, or Bunt to his friends, was a notorious figure on site who deliberately broke down the machines he was working on whenever he fancied a break. What admirable and correct thinking attitude! Another example of Albert's impeccable behaviour was his habit of keeping a bog roll under his hat, "cause you never know", and I'm sure he wasn't a man to not dawdle over a shit, so as to waste more valuable, production time. If the Company name, BMARC rings any bells for you, it may be to do with Jonathan Aitken who had a role with 'Marco's', as the locals called it, as a non-executive director and was involved in well dodgy arms deals, therein, a position he continued to profit from when he became involved with GEC Marconi in 1998 as his Saudi connections also proved useful to that arms-dealing operation. GEC happened to be my first employer when I was 16 and living in Wembley. I'm very happy to boastfully report, that in common with the admirable Bunt, I wasted hours on hours of company time and would regularly achieve 3 hour lunch breaks in the pub and was introduced to the Freak Brother's comics by my sincerely time-wasting comrades. So up yours BMARC and GEC.

2 comments:

jeff hilson said...

Vale to a true saboteur - I believe there is truth to the origin of the word sabotage - french workers throwing their 'sabots' or clogs into factory machinery to stop it from working. I have a great little pamphlet by Thorstein Veblen on such.

peckhaminfurs said...

Ooh, how delicious! thanks for the education prof. I'd be delighted to see the wee pamphlet.