The Surface Warship Association

Recently I was informed that Christopher Gilson had passed away while in hospital.

I first got to know Christopher while being a member of the Model Boat Club here in Winterthur, Switzerland. I found out that he had also attended the Naval College at Pangbourne near Reading on Thames although he was some nine years younger.

 

We both decided to make models of the Bangor Class Minesweeper which were kits of parts from a supplier in England.  He decided that his ship would be HMS Felixstowe and mine would be HMS Bude. We then went on to make several other boats. One of the problems that occurred with one of the models he wanted to build was that it was too big to go in his car, it would eventually be 7ft long, so we decide that the hull would be made in two halves. The boat would be HMS Termagent, which his grandfather had commanded at the battle of Jutland. The building of this boat was written up in the quarterdeck from January and April 2011. 

He continued to build radio controlled boats for many years.

Over the years he painted most of the boats that I built as he had a very well ventilated room for paint spraying.

Apart from modelling he was also the treasurer for the local model boat club and over the years continued to make positive progress for the club financially.

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By Philip Bellamy