{"id":85078,"date":"2017-10-06T08:28:00","date_gmt":"2017-10-06T08:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=dcdd989d23532671fe11055d84f162ff"},"modified":"2017-10-06T09:56:10","modified_gmt":"2017-10-06T09:56:10","slug":"press-release-100-year-old-retired-scientist-makes-an-emotional-return-to-porton-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=85078","title":{"rendered":"Press release: 100 year old retired scientist makes an emotional return to Porton Down"},"content":{"rendered":"

Updated:<\/em> Added new photograph. <\/p>\n

\n

During the week of his 100th birthday, a former Porton Down scientist returned for a surprise and emotional visit \u2013 almost 40 years after his retirement. The visit was arranged by his son John and staff at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl<\/abbr>).<\/p>\n

As a specialist scientist, Gilbert spent his entire working life at the site spanning the Second World War through to the Cold War between 1940 and 1978. His work at the time was cutting edge and involved working mainly in chemical warfare developing respirators to protect troops as well as the civilian population.<\/p>\n

He also worked on shark repellents and dispersion involving several sea-going trials in the 1960s. Gilbert\u2019s son, John, says he was a brave man who would often put himself forward for the most dangerous of missions and studies \u2013 all in a bid to protect the United Kingdom, its population and its Armed Forces.<\/p>\n

As one of Porton\u2019s oldest surviving retired scientists, Gilbert met with the newest Porton Down recruit, engineering apprentice Christopher King, who said:<\/p>\n

\n

It was a real honour to meet Gilbert and incredible to hear about the history of Dstl<\/abbr>. I love history, engineering and science, so it\u2019s a big deal to meet someone who\u2019s been working on previous technology, systems and science. It\u2019s also amazing to see how much technology has progressed. I only started my apprenticeship in September and who knows \u2013 my career could span as long as Gilbert\u2019s.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Gilbert was given the VIP treatment, visiting some of the most innovating parts of the Dstl<\/abbr> site, including Porton Man<\/a>, a robot mannequin that helps test the next generation of chemical and biological protective suits for the UK Armed Forces.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Gilbert<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

On witnessing how technology has advanced since his time at Porton Down, Gilbert said:<\/p>\n

\n

Oh, it\u2019s unbelievable. I never expected so much fuss. I was surprised that my son John had actually approached the station, because I knew it was extremely difficult to come in here \u2013 I was really surprised and I\u2019ve had such a marvellous time. It\u2019s tremendously different now from when I was here \u2013 I\u2019m amazed to see how much has changed. The work that is done now to protect the UK is incredible \u2013 there is no question about its importance.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Many of the scientists were extremely excited by the visit and were keen to hear about the legacy work that Gilbert was involved in.<\/p>\n

Colin Willis, a Principal Adviser in Chemical Protection and Detection at Dstl<\/abbr>, said:<\/p>\n

\n

It was an absolute pleasure to meet Gilbert and to have spoken to him, and particularly to hear some of his stories. We shouldn\u2019t forget that without a lot of the research done by Gilbert and his generation we would not be able to do much of the work we do today. The work he did was essential and we are using the results of that to help provide better defence for the UK Armed Forces.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Gilbert was presented with a framed certificate of appreciation for his contribution to science, as a well as a signed book about the history of Porton Down. It was indeed a special day for Gilbert, who was visibly moved at the end of his visit.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\nDstl<\/abbr> Media Enquiries<\/h3>\n
\n
\n

\n Email<\/span>
\n press@dstl.gov.uk<\/a>\n <\/p>\n

\n Media enquiries<\/span>
\n 01980 956845\n <\/p>\n

\n Out of hours<\/span>
\n 07384 210107\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A former Porton Down scientist returned for a surprise visit almost 40 years after his retirement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85078"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=85078"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85078\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85090,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85078\/revisions\/85090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=85078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=85078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=85078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}