Angus Paton
During the Second World War Paton was involved with the construction of gun emplacements in the Dardanelles, Turkey and of caissons for the Mulberry Harbours used after the Invasion of Normandy.
After the Second World War, Paton undertook an economic survey of Syria, which made recommendations for port, water infrastructure, irrigation and hydroelectric improvements.
[2] Paton left Jersey with his family in 1909 and spent a year in England before being sent to school in Boulogne-sur-Mer in France then Lausanne in Switzerland.
[2] Paton spent four years at Brunswick preparatory school in Haywards Heath, Sussex before studying at Cheltenham College.
[4] On Alexander Gibb's advice Paton read for a degree in civil engineering at University College London (UCL), where he had won a scholarship at the age of 17.
[2][4] Whilst at UCL Paton earned half-colours for long distance running and became the only student to graduate with a first class honours Bachelor of Science degree in engineering in 1925.
[5] In 1927 he worked on a dam at Maentwrog in North Wales and between 1932 and 1933 was resident engineer on the Glenlee portion of the Galloway hydro-electric power scheme.
[5] On 10 April 1931 Paton sailed to Canada to undertake a survey of its ports and outline the additional facilities that would be required in the next 25–50 years.
[5] The report was issued on 15 January 1932 but was not implemented until 1935 with the election of William Lyon Mackenzie King as Prime Minister of Canada.
[8] This was the biggest job of his career thus far and involved the construction of seven steel framed buildings, a power station, a storage silo, roads and railway sidings.
[5] During the Second World War the running of Gibb and Partners fell largely to Paton and James Guthrie Brown.
[9] Gibb and Partners gained a large number of government contracts and within a few weeks of the start of the war in September 1939 the workforce increased by 2000.
[4] Paton designed and sited several Royal Ordnance Factories and in March 1940 travelled to Turkey to construct an iron and steel works there.
[9] Paton made his way back to Britain via Greece, Italy and France and arrived home two days prior to the Italian declaration of war against the Allies on 10 June 1940.
[8] In 1946 Paton was put in charge of an economic survey of Syria which required him to traverse the country by aircraft and car.
[6] The report, issued in 1947, recommended port, water infrastructure and irrigation improvements and the construction of a hydroelectric power station on the Euphrates River.
[6] He was also involved in a report on the possibility of running a railroad from Northern Rhodesia to Dar es Salaam, Mtwara and Nyasaland.
[6] From 1946 to 1955 he worked on the Owen Falls Hydroelectric Scheme in Uganda which resulted in the complete stoppage of the White Nile for the first time in history.
[11] From 1960 until 1977, when he retired, Paton was the responsible partner for the firm's involvement in the supervision of the $1.2 billion World Bank Indus Basin Project.
[11] In 1962 Gibb & Partners was one of two firms chosen (with Coyne et Bellier) by the South African government to build two dams on the Orange River.
[12] He also worked on the modernisation of the Royal Mint which involved the move from its 600-year home at Tower Hill to Llantrisant in Wales in time for decimalisation in 1971.
