Denys Golder was my grandfather. A true gentleman, successful businessman and a proper war hero. I learnt many lessons from him including humility, service and what he called "stickability" or the ability to knuckle down and get the job done against the odds. The lessons learned while working in his wood working shop or on the golf course or at family lunches have served me well.
Below is a story written in a now ceased magazine called "The Boys Own" magazine about an amazing escape Denys Golder had when he was fighting in Burma in World War 2. Enjoy reading. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Boys Own Adventure: A TRUE STORY By Keith Welsh As the numerically stronger Japanese forces advanced into Burma in March, 1942, many heroic deeds were performed by Allied airmen and British land forces, but one of the epics of that ill-fated campaign was that in which two - young Australians figured. Neither was a pilot, yet when the captain of their Blenheim bomber was killed by ground fire, they took over the controls and after some hair-raising experiences, flew back to base, some 200 miles. The Japanese had struck at Pearl Harbor, in the Pacific Ocean, on the 7th December. 1941, and then began their southward drive on Malaya. It was a matter of four days only when the first attacks were made on Burma at Victoria Point and when Singapore fell, they sent heavy forces into Burma. Back and still further back retreated General Sir Harold Alexander's men as the strong Japanese Army pursued them, while wave after wave of Japanese aircraft bombed towns, villages, and troops. Rangoon, the capital of Burma, was bombed day after day, and although battle was waged by British aircraft which caused heavy Japanese casualties, sheer numbers gave the Japanese such an advantage that on the 7th March the city fell. The British, however, had demolition parties at work, and when the Japanese marched in they found the huge Syrian Oil Refinery ablaze, the dense black smoke from the oil casting a heavy pall over the city. The docks had also been seriously damaged, but the loss of this port was indeed a severe blow for the Allies. The Royal Air Force had now gone north to Magwe, some 220 miles away, based on the aerodrome there. The majority of the air crew at Magwe were Australians, but they were attached to the R.A F. As the Japanese continued to advance, the Australians became irritable and wanted to "mix it" with the enemy, but their operations were retarded because of the small numbers of aircraft available. 'The Blenheims had been rushed to Burma from the Middle East and there was a minimum of spare parts and only a skeleton ground crew to service the aircraft. Our story concerns three young Australian Sergeants--Douglas (" Tich ") Smythe, of Cottesloe, Western Australia; Denys Golder, of Burwood, Melbourne; and James Alt, of Epping, Sydney. Smythe was the pilot, Golder the navigator, and Alt the wireless operator-air gunner, who comprised the entire crew of the Blenheim. They had taken part in several bombing raids, and on the 23rd February, after bombing and strafing enemy troops on the Salween River, had flown the Air Officer commanding (Air Vice-Marshal Stevenson) from Mingaladon (the civil airport of Rangoon) to Magwe. So pleased was this officer with the crew's work that he ordered that they be retained for his exclusive use. This arrangement did not suit Smythe at all. He wanted to fight the Japanese. So he went to Air Vice-Marshal Stevenson and told him the views of himself and his crew. The officer was impressed with the sincerity of the Australians and said that while he still wanted them for his crew, they could take part in operations on any day on which he did not require them. Thereafter Smythe was on the heels of the Air Officer Commanding, asking him whether he required them. On the 11th March, Air Vice-Marshal Stevenson told them that he did not require them. They were instructed to make a low-level reconnaissance for enemy troops in the area around Nyaunglebin, Daik-U, Kaywe, and Myitko, and if any were observed, to strafe them. Excitedly the three Australians said out, and on arrival saw quite a number of enemy troops who scattered in all directions as Smythe took the Blenheim down to within 50 feet, and Alt and Golder sent a hail of lead at them. After reaching the end of their mission, Smythe decided to return over the same area and see if any more Japanese were about and, if so, to give them another charge of fire. He was flying low, only about 50 feet from the ground, and Golder was lying flat in the nose of the Blenheim, his eyes scanning the ground, and Alt was in the gun-turret, when a piercing yell was heard over the inter-communication unit, " I'm shot." With that the aircraft turned swiftly towards the ground, Smythe lurching seemingly unconscious over the controls. With a violent jump forward, Golder threw the "stick" backwards, and the Blenheim, just a few feet from the tops of some trees, turned skywards. It was just in the nick of time. Another split second would have been too late. “Come quickly," Golder called to Alt "Tich is shot." The passage from the gun-turret to the pilot's cabin in a Blenheim is unusually small. When one is wearing full flying kit, entrance from one compartment to the other is rendered even more difficult. Alt, however, literally forced himself through the opening, and while Golder took over the controls, he attended to Smythe. Now Golder was a navigator, and not a pilot, but emergencies called for special action, and Golder decided that pilot that aircraft he must. He believed that Smythe had been killed by a bullet from an enemy fighter aircraft, although it was subsequently ascertained that it was from enemy ground fire so, for 20 minutes, he flew north for about 50 miles hoping to get clear from any fighters. During this time, the 'plane had been flown without any attention being paid to navigation, soGolder decided to fly west until they struck the Irrawaddy River, and then follow that river until they reached base. At this stage they were flying at 1000 feet and all was well until, suddenly looming in front of them, were mountains 3000 feet high. Golder circled for half an hour endeavouring to gain height, but due to his experience as a pilot he nearly stalled the Blenheim on several occasions and had to put the nose of the aircraft down to keep the engines running, thereby losing much of the height he had previously gained. Alt, in the meantime, had been examining Smythe and had arrived at the conclusion that Smythe was beyond all help. The wireless operator-air gunner then turned his hand to navigating. After further circling, they considered they had sufficient height to cross the mountains, and set forth. Frequently they just crossed some of the peaks with inches to spare, but eventually they successfully negotiated the mountains and reached the Irrawaddy River and then followed it northwards. When they reached Prome, Alt took over the controls. Alt's experience as a pilot was even. Less than that of golder. When flying from Cairo to Burma, Smythe had shown Alt the workings of the controls and watched him fly for an hour.That was his sum total experience as a pilot. Golder then made out a report for his C.O. of the trip. He realised that he and Alt might be killed as the most hazardous part of the journey yet awaited them -- that of attempting to land the aircraft, or baling out, whichever he was ordered, and it was right that the C.O. should know all the circumstances. He accordingly set out in the report the results of the strafing, how Smythe had been killed, and how they had brought the Blenheim back to base. He further intimated that they proposed to-release Smythe's body by parachute so that the Medical Officer would be able to determine whether or not Smythe had been killed by ground fire. Golder then stated that they were prepared to attempt to land the aircraft, and suggested :-
On reaching Magwe, Golder again took over the controls, and from a height of 1200 feetdropped the message. Actually this was too high for a message to be dropped accurately, but Golder, on account of his inexperience, was not prepared to go any lower. At that time there were a number of D.C. aircraft on the aerodrome waiting to fly out evacuees from Burma, but Golder was willing to attempt to land the Blenheim with its wheels up, thereby damaging the aircraft, rather than damage the more valuable D.C.'s. Golder continued to circle the aerodrome, and noticed a number of R.A.F. Hurricane fighters in the air, but no response came to his message, so he wrote out another and dropped it. Sometime later, a red verey light was fired, and Alt and Golder understood it to mean to abandon the aircraft. Actually, it transpired that the second message drifted and was not picked up until the following day, and the red verey light was fired as a direction to wait until the Hurricanes landed. The Blenheim circled for more height until 7000 feet was reached, when Alttied a rope onto the ripcord of the pilot's parachute, and Smythe was dropped through the front hatch and the rip-cord pulled. Smythe's body was later examined by the medical officer and he con-confirmed his colleague's view that Smythe was killed instantly, having been shot through the heart. The pilot having been released, it now became necessary for Golder and Alt to abandon the aircraft. They decided to set the rudder controls to ensure that the Blenheim would fly well away from the aerodrome before crashing. Alt baled out first, Golder flying another circuit and watching him go down. Then Golder jumped and pulled the rip-cord, but sustained a complete black-out. He continued to drift, however, but when Alt was only 500 feet from the ground, he noticed that the Blenheim, which had gone into a flat spin when abandoned, was making straight for him. Desperately Alt tugged at the strings of his parachute, and the aircraft - crashed 500 yards from him , about three miles from the aerodrome. In the meantime, Golder had landed unconscious in the main street of a village, three miles from the aerodrome, and he awoke to find some Burmese giving him a drink of water. Half an hour later his C.O, arrived and took him to hospital, where he was found to be suffering from large bruises under the chin and a stiff neck, due to the sudden opening of the parachute. Alt, however, landed safely and was later questioned and commended by the General Officer Commanding the British 14th Army in Burma, General (later Field Marshal) Sir Harold Alexander, who was recently appointed Governor-General of Canada. So ended a Burma epic. It was a matter of general knowledge that these two sergeants were each recommended for a decoration, but when a general evacuation of Burma was made, all records were lost. Their efforts in bringing back the aircraft and overcoming many difficulties stands out as one of the most colourful and gallant efforts of the whole Burma campaign. It called for skill and pluck, fortitude and endurance. They had further emblazoned Australia on the scroll of fame and their heroism will certainly find a place in history. The End.
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Background- Moscow Russia
The history of VimpelCom started when its co-founders, Dr. Dmitry Zimin and Augie K. Fabela II, came together to pioneer the Russian mobile industry. At the invitation of MAK Vimpel, a Russian defense contractor, Mr. Fabela first visited Russia in 1991. It was during this period that he saw the significant opportunity for wireless in Russia. It was also when he met his future partner, Dr. Dmitri B. Zimin, a senior scientist at the Mints Radio Technical Institute, a division of MAK Vimpel. Inspired to do what everyone said couldn't be done; Mr. Fabela and Dr. Zimin set out to accomplish their vision of bringing basic wireless communications to Russia. A young American entrepreneur who was only 25 years old and spoke no Russian and a 63-year-old Russian scientist who spoke no English, were determined to build an independent company with an entrepreneurial and pioneering spirit--which led to the founding of VimpelCom in 1992. One year later, VimpelCom launched its first commercial network, a five base station system in Moscow, limiting sales to only 1,000 mobile phones in order to ensure quality of service. The commercial service was launched under the Beeline brand, a brand created by Mr. Fabela in late 1993 to differentiate the company as a youthful and fun company, rather than a technical company. Very soon, the Beeline brand became the choice for admirers of state-of-the-art technology and mobile fans. By its first anniversary, Beeline became the largest operator in Moscow, and its trademark was well-known in 20 Russian regions. Together, VimpelCom’s founders built a successful company forged out of cultural diversity and based on a common passion to dream the impossible and to succeed. VimpelCom has since continued its long tradition as a leading innovator in communications, evolving to address changing industry dynamics and to capture growth opportunities. In the 1990s, the Company introduced two digital cellular communications standards to Russia and built a dual band GSM-900 / 1800 cellular network. In November 1996, our predecessor OJSC VimpelCom became the first Russian company since 1903 to list shares on the NYSE. In 1999, VimpelCom led the emergence of the mass consumer market for wireless communications in Russia by introducing a prepaid packaged product solution. Then, in 2000, the Company continued to innovate with new technologies such as WAP (wireless application protocol) and BeeOnline – a multi-access Internet portal offering its customers a wide variety of wireless information and entertainment services. Introduction
I first worked with Evgeny at http://moskva.beeline.ru/en-us/welcome/general-information/ in Moscow, Russia in 2001. Beeline was part of the Vimpelcom http://www.vimpelcom.com/ group of companies. We worked together on a massive transformation program at the beginning of Beeline’s growth and expansion. Currently Beeline has over 57 million mobile customers, yes that figure is correct http://www.vimpelcom.com/Businesses/Russia/ using the infrastructure and solutions that were built as part of that transformation program. I have always been impressed with his technical skill set as well in depth project knowledge and thought it would be good to get to know more about some of the tools, templates, resources that he has used. Quick questions 1. What should people know about you? · PMP-certified PM; · about 20 years’ experience in technical, consulting and management role in global software delivery projects; · global vendors, large international telecom operator and mid-range system integrator experience 2. What was the project that you are most proud of and why? · Managed Services Provisioning System, PM in System Integrator 3. What was the biggest challenge? · Tight constraints, initial under-estimate of the project complexity 4. If you could go back to the beginning of the project and tell yourself something, what would you say? · Using proven tools, templates and approaches significantly simplify and reduce errors in project management process 5. What routines or habits did you use that helped you and your team be successful? · revised methodology; · optimized internal coordination; · effective collaboration with the client 6. Did you use any useful tools or templates that you found useful? · Project Management Plan; · Statement of Works; · Project Plan; (d) risk/issue register; · Project Status Reports; · Financial Management tools; · Change Requests; · Release Management templates 7. What information/ advice do you most like to pass onto other people? · Using templates and tools may help to reduce effort on project management routines 8. What books/ blogs/ media to stay up to date in your chosen field? · Publications and Web casts on pmi.org; · IPM Day on iil.com; 9. Dog Person or Cat Person? · Cat Person 10. Anything else you would like to say? 11. этого достаточно 12. Where can people find out more about you? https://www.linkedin.com/pub/evgeniy-ilinykh/0/911/532
Recently the venture capital firm that worked with as COO needed to hire a few new resources.
We had tapped out our network of contacts from meet ups and immediate network of past employees and colleagues of employees. As most people have found it is better to recruit from within your network or your employees network as they know who will fit the company culture you are trying to build. |
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For the project office to use. A list of things to check off in managing a project grouped into sections from scope, time, budget, quality and management. Instantly check the health of any project by scoring against these 117 questions.
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The following is a project checklist, which can be used by project managers, program managers, delivery managers, pre sales consultants and anyone who is focused on ensuring that all areas of a project are being managed to ensure successful delivery. It is organised around the lifecycle of a project from initiation through delivery and close out.
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