Phil Boothroyd, (right) presenting artwork to David Garner MOC president. by David Garner
The son of a tailor, Phil was born on the 1st November 1929 in Birmingham, grew up in the Hall Green area of the city and lived within two miles of there all his life. He was the youngest of four children, having three older sisters. One vivid wartime memory he described is the Luftwaffe raid on 14 November 1940 that was the most severe to hit Coventry during the war. It was carried out by 515 German bombers and he watched the resulting firestorm from his bedroom window. Of course this did not affect his great affection for German people, language, and culture but it did create an interest in the Second World War and particularly German aircraft development.
During the war, Phil extended his interest in railways and adventure by ignoring the government demand to avoid unnecessary travel as he used the relatively new Great Western Railway diesel railcar service to Cardiff. Any adult travelling by train during the war would have been questioned by police to explain the reason for travel but as a child, Phil did not come under much scrutiny often hiding stood by the door for the whole journey. On arrival in Cardiff he would explore the Welsh valley lines and it was on one of these trips in 1944 that he discovered the huge locomotive store that was part of the D-day invasion plans. He was fascinated with the line of over 100 new locomotives at Treforest, part of a consignment of over 400 that had been imported from the USA through Cardiff docks, then assembled into full working order at Ebbw Junction shed in Newport. He was fully aware that he had to keep his knowledge of this secret due to the strategic importance of the store.
Phil left school without significant academic achievement and his first employment as a clerk in a building society office was not enjoyable for him. When he was called up for National Service in 1948 it was with surprising enthusiasm that he joined the Warwickshire Regiment knowing that they were recently active in strife-torn Palestine. A more unlikely candidate for military service is hard to imagine but it was to have a huge impact on Phil’s future life. An interest in music quickly established him in the regimental band where he played a number of wind instruments but was proficient in the Clarinet. A natural progression to saxophone was made and he became an accomplished player of the bass, tenor, and alto saxophone. This was of course the big band swing era dominated by the music of Glenn Miller and there was much demand for dance bands at social events.
After leaving National Service, Phil joined the band on the RMS Caronia. The Cunard White Star company’s 34,183 ton RMS Caronia, was launched from John Brown’s Shipyard on Clydebank, Glasgow on 30 October 1947. This was the first ever ship purpose-built for transatlantic crossings and more importantly for cruising as an all first-class ship. Luxury on an unimaginable scale was a feature of the ship with her fabulous art-deco interiors and high crew to passenger ratio. This was a period of severe austerity for the U.K. as the country was bankrupt owing billions to the USA for war materiel so the passengers were mostly American with a few of the remaining British aristocracy who still had significant wealth. She provided the ultimate in luxury living for her wealthy passengers, and the opportunity of round the world travel for her crew. Phil travelled the world on this ship visiting almost every country and would be away for months at a time. During this time that Phil met many of the world’s celebrities and he became at ease with people of a higher social standing in a time when the class system was still very much alive in post war Britain. Entertainers such as Phil lived a nocturnal life only returning to his cabin in the early hours of the morning and this mode of living stayed with him all his life.
Life on the ship eventually came to an end and Phil continued his career appearing in the many dance halls that were a feature of British life in the 50’s and early 60’s. As a musician he came to know some of the highly skilled arrangers who could adapt the popular music of the day for dance band use. Phil had come to know Newcastle upon Tyne from his service on the cruise ship and he lived in the town for some time while playing in the local dance halls. It was there he developed a relationship with a female friend that lasted some time but did not work out in the end. In continuing his career he became involved with the Musicians’ Union and in due course progressed to become full-time secretary of the Midlands section of the Musicians’ Union. In this role he came to know many big names in the music business such as Duke Ellington and Humphrey Littleton. Far from being a name-dropper, if pressed he would relate many an anecdote from his dealings with celebrities. Phil‘s character was ideally suited to dealing with awkward complaints from celebrities such as increases in Union subscriptions in his tactful and friendly manner.
A most significant event was the BBC musicians’ strike in July 1980 supported by 83.6 per cent of the affected players in a secret postal ballot of the union composed of members of all political dispositions. This tested Phil’s negotiating skills as the BBC imposed unilateral changes that were in breach of a written agreement. Ultimately the BBC had to back down and there was eventually a negotiated settlement brokered by Phil.
The need to travel to work together with his instruments and returning when most public transport had ceased demanded that he had his own transport. This was what drove the acquisition of his first Messerschmitt that he bought new in 1958 and registered ME200 long before personalised number plates became fashionable. His first contact with MOCGB (as a non-member) was at a committee meeting in Aylesbury in April 1958 and Phil had driven to the meeting in his Kr200.. Ernst Hartmann, the leading light in the club at that time was there, as was Esca Mansford. Phil must have joined the club at that point because his first club run in ME200 as a member was on the 7th May 1958 to Alton Towers – see article ‘Phil Boothroyd recalls’ in Kabinews September/October 2012. Notably, Phil attended the very first UK Messerschmitt Rally in the summer of 1959 in ME200 held in Wicksteed Park Kettering. On 8th January 1960, at an MOCGB committee meeting in Ashby de la Zouch, Stan Williams proposed Phil as a committee member as ‘Press and Public Relations Officer’. For some reason, Chairman Ernst Hartmann voted against but despite this, Phil was voted on to the committee by a majority vote. Hence Phil began his 54 year long position as a serving club officer. He participated in the MOC trips to the FMR plant in Regensburg that were organised by Ernst Hartmann initially in 1959 and this fuelled his enthusiasm for Messerschmitts and the links to the various Karo-Clubs in Germany together with a desire to learn German language.
Thus Phil was at the forefront of every significant development in the evolution of the UK Messerschmitt movement. By 1964 he was MOCGB Club Chairman and realised the need for a spare parts service when FMR announced they were ceasing production. With the then MOCGB Club Treasurer, Geoff Robinson, he set up a parts sales service trading as Karo Supplies operating from 31 Cattell Road, Small Heath, Birmingham 9. This business arrangement was set up without revealing that Phil was a partner in it and this was probably because of the somewhat difficult relationship with Ernst Hartmann. Parts were advertised nationally in Exchange & Mart and in the MOCGB club magazine ‘Messerschmitt News’. Although it appeared to be a business operation, in fact it operated from the private house in Cattel Road owned by Phil and Geoff. Karo Supplies continued to advertise regularly in Messerschmitt News right up till November 1969 and offered 5% discount on production of a Club membership card.
As a frequent visitor to the port of Southampton, Phil came to know of Testwood Motors in nearby Totton and especially the proprietor, Bill Street. They were the largest Messerschmitt dealer in the U.K. and the only one with a direct import franchise with RSM and FMR avoiding the main importer (Cabin Scooter Assemblies). When Testwood Motors gave up their dealership, Phil continued to have his car serviced by their renowned Messerschmitt specialist, Len Drake. As Testwood Motors developed their VW dealership the service ended but Karo Supplies bought all remaining parts and tools with a view to establishing a continuing parts supply. With almost no mechanical ability, Phil relied on Geoff to identify the parts while he handled the administration. Development of Karo Supplies was limited as Geoff became a Director of a company specialising in fastener systems based in Leamington Spa and the residual parts from Karo Supplies were eventually sold to MOC in 1997.
When links to Fichtel and Sachs were established in 1969, Phil supported using MOCGB funds to buy in parts but did not reveal his interest in Karo Supplies that was unknown to most committee members at that time. Of course, a Club parts service would have reduced the value of Karo Supplies stock but by 1969, they were not very active. He did help MOCGB with his own funds to get the parts service started and this helped to forge the relationship with Les Tilbury and MOC (L&SE) that was then the other main Messerschmitt Club in the UK.
Some years later, liaising with Les Tilbury, Phil was heavily involved in the merging of the two main British clubs. This went on to become ‘The International Federation of Messerschmitt Clubs’, another of Phil’s far-sighted ideas. Later on he spent probably a couple of years meticulously composing the Constitution document for what, by this time, had simply become the ‘MOC’. This document now forms the basis of MOC Ltd’s Memorandum & Articles of Association. Nowadays, probably only a small number of members will be aware of the huge influence that Phil’s painstaking work in his 54 years as a Club officer has had on the structure and strengths of the MOC as it exists today.
He was forced to retire early from his job with the Musicians’ Union at the early age of 51 to become full-time carer for his mother who had, by this time, developed the late stages of dementia and was totally dependent on Phil for everything. The very commendable but nonetheless heavy burden of the care for his mother lasted for many years as she lived to be 96 years of age. Despite being a very outgoing and easy-mixing sort of person, Phil never married and perhaps the restrictions that this thankless job imposed upon Phil could have been one of the reasons.
Phil was an extremely well-read and intelligent man and a most entertaining conversationalist and writer on many subjects. Those that knew him will be aware of his dry sense of humour which often came out of his writings. He was most meticulous in everything he took on and his insistence on absolute accuracy could, at times, work against him, delaying the completion of a piece of work. Phil’s knowledge on matters Messerschmitt (both aircraft and vehicles) was phenomenal and he had what was an almost unique ability to pluck a date or piece of information from memory on request. If Phil contributed a piece of work or information on anything related to Messerschmitt, you could be assured that it would be correct. Although he was an accomplished German language speaker, he rarely demonstrated his ability in public because he was, (characteristically), afraid of making grammatical errors. He wrote many fine obituaries for notable Messerschmitt people and particularly Les Tilbury where he made extensive notes from meetings earlier meetings. He was less forthcoming and typically shy when asked if notes could be taken about his life so these notes have necessarily been compiled from memory. He interviewed Fritz Fend at some length together with a number of Messerschmitt and RSM/FMR employees. At some future date these and other notes will be published by MFGB.
In 1991, Phil became a director of a company known as Karo Securities Limited. Although this company was formed on 4th Nov 1971 it is not clear what Phil’s involvement was but the company did own some property in Leamington Spa and the other director was Geoffrey Robinson. Phil’s directorship ceased on 30 September 2002 and the company ceased trading on 22 March 2005.
In 1992, with characteristic generosity, Phil offered to set up a Trust known as the Messerschmitt Foundation of Great Britain to be managed by MOC for the preservation of Messerschmitt archives and Phil’s collection of 2 Kr200’s and one Tg500. A building was included in the Trust and with funding provided by Phil to the end of 1994 after which MOC would become responsible for any operating costs until Phil’s death when it was to become self-funding from his estate. Although it was initially accepted with some enthusiasm, there were some MOC members who were not happy with the location of the building and the financial commitment that went with it. After a number of letters imploring Phil to give up the idea, he decided that he would fund it himself with support of 3 other Trustees. It exists now as a separate entity from MOC and has a collection of various Messerschmitt and FMR vehicles together with all Phil’s archive material. With Phil’s passing Fend House will benefit from his painstaking setting up of MFGB with sound financial structures giving it significant strength to maintain and develop Messerschmitt history for future generations.
By 2007, Phil’s eyesight, which had already begun to deteriorate due to age-related macular degeneration, robbed him of his favourite activities, reading and writing. He had already been warned by his doctor that he would have to consider giving up driving soon and this warning stopped him driving immediately. The last event at which Phil made an appearance was that same year (2007) at the Wychwood Rally. After that he became reclusive and contact became increasingly difficult as his health and eyesight deteriorated.
It was encouraging to see Phil’s many friends at his funeral that was more a celebration of his life than the sad occasion it might have been. His achievements were considerable and enriched the lives of all those who took the trouble to get close to him. In creating the Messerschmitt Foundation of Great Britain he leaves an enduring memorial to a great man.