Frederick Gwilym Robertson Le Pla
Frederick Gwilym Robertson Le Pla (c1877-1940)
1941 Obituary [1]
Captain FREDERICK GWILYM ROBERTSON LE PLA, M.C., served his apprenticeship with Messrs. Bowes Scott and Western, Ltd., of Westminster, and with Messrs. Capel and Company, of Dalston, from 1894 until 1899, when he went to sea in charge of the engines and boilers on ships of the American Petroleum Company.
In 1903, he became chief draughtsman and engineer to the Mond Nickel Company, Ltd., in South Wales, and took charge of special machinery for the refining of nickel. In 1912 he was appointed general manager to Messrs. Lambert, Ltd., in Nairobi.
From the outbreak of war in 1914 until 1919 he was attached to the Royal Engineers; he commanded with distinction a Pioneer Company in East Africa, and was awarded the Military Cross in 1917. During 1921-5 he undertook a considerable amount of work as a consulting engineer, and he also held the appointment of engineer in the agricultural department of the Uganda Government. After three years as chief engineer to the Clarkson Boiler Company, he became in 1928 mining engineer and chief draughtsman to Ariston Gold Mines, and later held a similar position with New Consolidated Goldfields, Ltd. Captain Le Pla, whose death, at the age of 63, occurred on 10th November 1940, was an Associate Member of the Institution from 1912 to 1916; he was re-elected an Associate Member in 1920.