John Dolphin

John Robert Vernon Dolphin CBE TD (1 October 1905 – 2 May 1973) was a British engineer and inventor who joined the Secret Intelligence Service and then became the Commanding Officer of the top secret Second World War Special Operations Executive (SOE) 'Station IX' where specialist military equipment was developed. During his time there his inventions included the Welman midget submarine and the Welbike Parachutists' Motorcycle. On leaving the British Army he founded a number of companies, including the Corgi Motorcycle Co Ltd. in 1946 and also set up Dolphin Industrial Developments Ltd, and Hydraulic Developments Ltd, which he ran until 1950 when he became Chief Engineer at the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment. He then went on to become Engineer-in-Chief at the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Research Group, until 1959 and became joint Managing Director of Lansing Bagnall Ltd and J. E. Shay Ltd until 1964, and a Director of TI (Group Services) Ltd, where he successfully secured patents for a number of inventions, including sheet piling revetments, improvements to fork lift trucks and the forerunner of the modern mobility scooter. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1956 Queen's Birthday Honours. He died 2 May 1973(1973-05-02) (aged 67) in Whitchurch-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.