Lt Cdr Philip ('Phil') Dickinson Royal Navy

I first met Phil in 1974 on the ‘Grad Tech Course’ at BRNC, which was a post graduation summer course for those Nominations & UCEs who had read for degrees in arts subjects. We became good friends, despite coming from very different backgrounds and styles of life, and we kept on crossing in our careers. He was a course behind me through O school, then I went on to relieve him in no less than three different jobs. He was already married when I met him, to the delightful Susan, an American lady who he had met while he was a nomination up at Lancaster University. Hardworking, and well organised, he proved a first-class observer, but his career prospects were truncated when he was appointed as ops officer of a CVS. This should have been a natural fit for someone with his experience and talents, but it went badly wrong and his promotion prospects ended. Nothing daunted he picked himself up and continued to serve in various specialist appointments well beyond the normal retirement age, eventually racking up 48 years of service.The Times obituary on 2 July 2021 is a fair tribute to him, although having him down as a pilot rather than observer would not have amused him https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/lt-cdr-philip-dickinson-obituary-p56vsqwmk