Fred Ballam And The Westland Archive

Lee, have no doubt the whole thing was worthy of the sad occasion and worthy of the man. Fred’s passing will not now go un-noticed, and believe me he leaves a great void in the historical knowledge base.
Those of us left holding the archive will do our best to keep up Fred’s work. the whole event (some 150 people turned up) was the right blend of sadness and celebration of: ‘Lifes work well done, lifes race well run’.

Thank you and JB for a supurb tribute.
On behalf of Sheila, Thank all of you on this forum for your generous comments.

Judwin

It was certainly a bit icy under foot getting the Wasp out of the hangar this lunchtime, but certainly no deterrent for such a worthy cause. I hope that the flypast we were able to perform over Yeovil Crematorium went some way to adding to a fitting send off for Fred.

To coin a phrase, Blue Skies Fred!

I have just read this and thanks for letting us know David. Fred was extremely helpful in sourcing photographs for various articles I wrote over the years and will be greatly missed. I finally met him when Westland hosted a visit to the factory by the Fairford Aviation Society last year. A sad loss – please accept my condolencies.

I had the pleasure of seeing Fred at Westlands 6 years ago, where he helped us kick start our Whirlwind project. A softly spoken man, one you could not fail to like from the very start…

Very sad he has left us, God speed you Fred on your journey.

Stuart.

That is sad news indeed, Fred was a fine gentlemen and so helpful.

Blue skies old chap.

Sad Day

Sad news to see that Fred has passed away, he was helping me with a project concerning the Wyvern. Always ready with help in any way he will be sadly missed by all who knew him and more who wish they had.

Apologies all: 1200, Yeivil Crematorium, Monday 21st December
No Flowers, Donations will be divided between;
Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance and
St Margaret’s Hospice, Yeovil.

Judwin, many thanks for the information

Judwin, which day is the funeral?

Apologies all: 1200, Yeivil Crematorium, Monday 21st December
No Flowers, Donations will be divided between;
Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance and
St Margaret’s Hospice, Yeovil.

Very sad news indeed – Fred very kindly helped me with some research for my book on Turnhouse a couple of years back – A gentleman.
RIP.

Judwin, which day is the funeral?

For everyones information, The Funeral is at Yeovil Crematorium, at 12.00. All are invited to the Westland Sports complex after

That’s very sad news. Obviously I used Fred’s help for my book on the Westland Lysander, but as others have found, Fred’s helpfulness and extensive knowledge both of the archive’s content and the subject itself was of invaluable extra help.

A gentleman of the old school, and a man whose memory and knowledge, tragically now gone, was vast.

Thanks for the help, Fred.

That is sad news, thanks for the notice.
I communicated with him a long time ago re Westlands involvement with the Gannet.
He was extremely helpful.

I am absolutely gutted at that news. I was due to speak to Fred this month and hopefully meet up with him to discuss the Wyvern. Fred was a mine of information on the Wyvern and had been with the design team from the beginning, and it was only recently that i had started to discuss certain things with him about the aircraft and dip into his mine of information.
And although i knew he was suffering with his health i had no idea it was so serious.

A great loss to Westlands and the general aviation community. RIP Sir…