Royston Brooks

Royston Webb Brooks, MBE, AE (, born 9 June 1936) is a British electrical engineer and retired air force officer of the Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force (RHKAAF).

Brooks was born in Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales, the United Kingdom, on 9 June 1936, to Gregory Webb Brooks, brewer and bottler, and Elsie May Brooks (née Jones).

In the early 1970s, he was a projects engineer at CLP.

A few years later, he became the chief projects engineer of the engineering projects department.

Brooks joined the RHKAAF in 1971 as a part-timer.

While living and working in Hong Kong, Brooks joined the Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force (RHKAAF) as a pilot on part-time basis in 1971, with the RHKAAF having just been restructured as a separate unit the year before.

By the mid-1980s, he had been further promoted to become the divisional manager of engineering of the engineering division, a post he held until he left CLP in 1988.

During his time with CLP, he was responsible for a number of major capital projects, which included the Castle Peak Power Station, the Tsing Yi "B" Power Station and the CLP System Control Centre in Tai Po, etc.

While in Hong Kong, he also became a Member of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (MHKIE) and was later elected a Fellow (FHKIE).

He received the Air Efficiency Award (AE) in 1981, to be followed by a clasp to the medal several years later.

He was promoted to the rank of squadron leader in 1985 and further promoted to the rank of wing commander upon assuming command of the RHKAAF in 1988.

Throughout the years, he had taken part in various search and rescue missions.

As the commanding officer, he was in charge of a wide range of flying services and related support services.

He also oversaw a partial replacement of the fleet.

In 1985, he was promoted to the rank of squadron leader.

Over the years, he had participated in various search and rescue missions.

He had also served as an honorary aide-de-camp to the Governor of Hong Kong.

He was the last expatriate to serve as the commanding officer of the RHKAAF from 1988 to 1990.

In January 1988, Brooks took over from Wg Cdr Alistair Asprey to become the commanding officer of RHKAAF.

On assuming the commanding role, he was promoted to the rank of wing commander.

In recognition of his service, he was also appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire of the Military Division (MBE (Mil)) in the 1988 New Year Honours.

The RHKAAF was mainly responsible for providing different kinds of search and rescue services and flying services support.

During his time as the commanding officer, it had a total of more than 3,000 hours of flying time each year.

It also responded to more than 200 emergency calls and dispatched its helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft for search and rescue operations for around 60 to over 100 times annually.

One of the most important rescue operations under his charge occurred on 21 July 1988, when the RHKAAF sent out helicopters to rescue villagers in the New Territories hit by the most serious floods in a decade.

Apart from the rescue missions, the RHKAAF continued to provide routine transport services for carrying government officials and guests, conduct offshore patrols in anti-illegal immigration operations, and assist government departments in performing aerial surveys, photography and map-making work, etc.

When Brooks assumed the commanding post, the RHKAAF operated a fleet of 10 aircraft, including two twin-engined aircraft, one Britten-Norman Islander, two Scottish Aviation Bulldog trainers, two Slingsby Firefly trainers and three Aerospatiale Dauphin twin-engined helicopters.

After the death of his father, his mother was remarried to Arthur Kirk when she was at 80 in 1992.

Brooks received education at Bishop Gore Grammar School.

He then studied engineering at Swansea Technical College (now University of Wales Trinity Saint David) and King's College, Durham University (now Newcastle University).

After graduation, Brooks embarked on his engineering career and he was qualified as a member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers and a member of the Institution of Plant Engineers.

Later on, he was qualified as a chartered engineer and was elected a Fellow of the Institution of Electrical Engineers.

In view of the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997, he assisted in the preparation for transforming the RHKAAF from a paramilitary air force of the Hong Kong Government into a disciplined unit as the Government Flying Service.

Brooks is a chartered engineer by profession.

Having previously worked in Hong Kong for MVE/AEI he moved from the United Kingdom to Hong Kong to continue his career with the China Light and Power Company (CLP), where he worked his way up from a projects engineer to the chief projects engineer of the engineering projects department, and later the divisional manager of engineering of the engineering division.

He was responsible for large-scale capital projects including the Castle Peak Power Station.

After leaving the CLP and RHKAAF, he resided for a time in the United States before returning to the United Kingdom.

Upon the amalgamation of the Institution of Electrical Engineers and the Institution of Incorporated Engineers as the Institution of Engineering and Technology in 2006, he was transferred to the new institution to become a fellow.

Over the years, he had published a few articles in the relevant academic publications.

As an engineer, his career was largely associated with China Light and Power Company (CLP) in Hong Kong.