Synopsis of Michael G Fellows

MBE. DSC. BEM.* FIExpE. MSUT.

Key Qualifications

An experienced, highly motivated and creative consultant with extensive strategic, operational and administrative experience.  Specialised in Mine-warfare, Diving and Bomb and Mine Disposal with almost 50 years wide ranging experience at all levels as a Royal Naval Clearance Diver.  Since leaving the Service in 1990 these skills have been used most effectively in Industry as a Managing Director and Consultant.

"Coal-face experience at the sharp end in war and peace", defusing more iron bombs and mines than he cares to remember and setting up and running the longest continual mine clearance project in the World to date make him unique amongst Bomb and Mine Disposal Men.

Membership of Professional Soceities

• Fellow - Institute of Explosives Engineers Number 0476
• World Explosive Ordnance Disposal Foundation 970380
• European Committee Deminex 36144
• Association of First Class Divers 0002
• Society for Underwater technology 12117

Honours & Awards

• Member of the British Empire. Military Division MBE
• Distinguished Service Cross DSC
• British Empire Medal. Military Division for Gallantry BEM*
• Meritous Service Medal. Royal Navy MSM
• Northern Ireland Service Medal GSM-NI
• Falklands Campaign Medal with Land Operations Rosette GSM-FI*
• Long Service Medal with Bar LSGC Bar

Personally briefed, and had the odd cup of tea or glass of wine with, Her Majesty the Queen, Kings, Presidents, Heads of State and the UK Prime Minister on completion of various operations.

Career Resume

1993 – Present

Managing Director of Fellows International Limited (FIL). Controlling proposal writing and bidding for contracts in the current and future Government, International Agencies and commercial developers programmes for munitions contamination location and remediation contracts on land and subsea.

Planned and completed munitions contaminated remediation schemes for the foundations of many prestigious sites in the UK including the London Eye, New Millennium Bridge, Westminster Bridge, Battersea Power Station, Emirates Stadium, Gunwharf Quays, Princess Hay Exeter, Clydebank Rebuilt and The Deeps Hull.

Surveyed and cleared harbours of unexploded munitions in the UK, Somalia, Eritrea, Greece, Angola and Laos. Conducted annual munitions migration surveys of the Beauforts Dyke Ammunition Dumping Ground in the Irish Sea.

Organised emergency removal and disposal of 3 bombs wedged against pipelines in the North Sea when the Naval authorities could not respond.

Conducted the World’s deepest ROV bomb disposal operation undertaken to date off of the Philippines disposing of 66 bombs at 480m water depth.

Located and removed over 700 live bombs from the UK in 2007 on a single site in the UK.

Set up an international explosive ordnance disposal and mine action joint venture in Northern Iraq with a Kurdistan national company. Trained and fully equipped manual and mechanical mine clearance teams. Obtained a $15Million Regional Government contract for 3,000,000 square metres mine clearance.

FIL are renowned throughout the industry for their unique professional approach, use of state of the art equipment and regard for safe practice. Safety and leading from the front have been of paramount importance throughout his bomb and mine disposal career and he has carried this into his commercial practice as an integral part of the company policy.
FIL were the first UK Company to achieve BS EN ISO 9002 for Diving, Explosives and Munitions Clearance Services (now updated to BS EN ISO 9001:2008).

1990 - 1996

Employed by Drager of Germany, UK and USA, as a Business Development Consultant on Military Diving, Mine-warfare and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) and Special Forces Equipment.  Modified and redesigned much of the in-service equipment for Military use.  Gained many enquiries and sales from successfully introducing Drager diving equipment and life support technology to the UK Ministry of Defence (Navy and Army).  Involved in many successful Bids for MOD (N) contracts: significant ones were for the replacement oxygen diving equipment, (circa GBPS 5 Million) one man recompression chambers (circa GBPS 3 Million) and War Gas Detection Equipment
(circa GBPS 1.5 Million) Combat Swimmers Life Support Harness (circa GBPS 1Million).

1990 - 1994

Trelleborge International of Sweden.  Consultant responsible for advising the Company on UK Military Diving, Fire Fighting and Chemical Warfare procedures and equipment requirements.  Designed Mine Clearance Equipment such as Non Magnetic Mine Probe and Mine Safe Walking Platform currently in use by munitions clearance engineers in many theatres of operations.  Designed the Waterproof Equipment Transportation Bag and other 'specialist to task equipment' for the UK Military Special Forces.

1990 - 1993

As the Diving and Explosive Ordnance Disposal Consultant for Rimfire International Limited successfully introduced them into munitions clearance operations.  As their Horn of Africa Project Manager he was responsible for formulating, gaining approval and issuing policy for the training of 440 Somali personnel in basic EOD and minefield clearance techniques.  He then controlled a very successful 3-year programme for the UNHCR, EEC, US Aid, MSF, ODA and Dutch Government in Somaliland clearing in excess of 125,000 non-metallic mines and hundreds of tons of unexploded ordnance.  The project was valued at GBPS 9 Million.

1986 - 1990 

As the Royal Navy's 'first' Inspector of Clearance Divers and Special Forces responsible to The Superintendent of Diving for monitoring all diving, bomb and mine disposal and Health and Safety Standards by advisory and formal Inspections and to provide expert advice to the Clearance Diving Teams, Special Boat Squadron and Special Air Service.  Provided detailed operational papers that laid down the optimum characteristics that would be required for future equipment to support diving and EOD.

As the Duty Mine-warfare and Diving Officer on The Superintendent of Diving's staff, instigated the rescue attempt of the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster and later led the onboard party of British and Belgium CDs who removed the 191 corpses from the ship.  Last noteworthy operational Royal Naval task was to investigate the damage and formulate the successful safe plan for the removal of collision damaged missiles from HMS Southampton in the Persian Gulf in 1989.  Awarded Membership of the Order of the British Empire.

1983 - 1986

Assistant to The Superintendent of Diving.  Responsible for implementing 'lessons learnt'
from the Falklands Campaign, and was required to liase with external organisations to manage and administer the provision of new equipment and facilities in support of clearance diving activities world-wide.  Advised Coroners Courts on commercial diving accidents and trained in Occupational Health and Safety at Highbury College Portsmouth.  Designed, built and commissioned the first mobile, containerised recompression chambers, special mine investigation units and air mobile diving support units.  Standardised the RN's Bomb and Mine Disposal and Diving motor transport and the Sunken Submarine Rescue Diving Logistic Support organisation.  Monitored Research Objectives, within the Defence Research Agency and Director General Underwater Weapons organisation, for future Mine-warfare and Diving equipment.  Awarded the Royal Navy Meritorious Service Medal.

1981 - 1983

Second in Command of the Fleet Clearance Diving Team.  During this time conducted numerous mine-countermeasure exercises with NATO.  During the Falklands Campaign in a ten hour operation in the burning sea-slug missile magazine on board HMS Antrim, whilst under constant air attack, disposed of the World's first recorded unexploded bomb on board a warship at sea.  Without any sleep or break then attended an unexploded bomb on HMS Argonaut leaving that task only to recover survivors from the water when HMS Antelope exploded almost alongside.  Planned and led the joint Army / SBS / CD Mine Clearance Team, behind the enemy lines, to clear a landing for the main Stanley seabourne assault.  Defused two unexploded bombs in the mortar magazine of HMS Plymouth and removed damaged volatile Seacat missiles from her launchers.  'Stripped' and 'certified as safe' in Gibraltar a recovered Argentinean mine that was being returned to the UK for investigation.  

Awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for bomb and mine disposal services during the Falklands Campaign.  The only non commissioned Officer in the Royal Navy to be so honoured since the awards inception.

1978 - 1981 

Assistant Fleet Mine-warfare and Clearance Diving Officer to The Commander in Chief Fleet, responsible for the Health and Safety in diving and explosives demolition practice of all of the diving units in the Fleet world-wide.  Advising the CinC on maritime counter terrorist procedures, diving and explosive ordnance disposal capabilities.  Conducted Inspections of all Fleet Diving Units ashore and afloat.

1975 - 1977

Chief of The Scottish and Northern Ireland Bomb and Mine Disposal Team with responsibility for the whole of the British Isles North of The Wash and Barrow in Furness.  During this period defusing many British and German bombs and mines on land and on board trawlers including a 1000lb bomb jammed in the bucket of a dredger in the centre of Aberdeen.  Led the teams that de-ammunitioned the sunken wrecks of HMS Vanguard in the Orkney Isles, HMS Drake at Rathlin Island and HMS Natal at Invergordon.  He attended the first recorded terrorist device on board an offshore drilling platform in the North Sea.  He was awarded the British Empire Medal, Military Division for Gallantry, for his bomb and mine disposal.  (The BEM* of which he was the last recipient, is the forerunner of today’s Queens Gallantry Medal).

1974 - 1975

Chief Diver of a Joint Service EOD Team that located and destroyed 6 Japanese defensive wartime minefields at Funafuti Atoll in the South Pacific, a shark infested sea area of some 14 square miles.  Supervised the disposal of 1,240 tones of World War Two unexploded ordnance on land at Nanameia during the same period including 137 one thousand pound bombs.

1973 - 1974

Coxswain and Chief Diver of a Ton Class MCMV.  Responsible for the Clearance Diving Team, Ships Discipline, Victualling and Medical Welfare.  

1970 - 1973

 Chief Diver of the Clyde Submarine Base Clearance Diving Team.  Responsible for the hull maintenance and support of the Polaris and Conventional Submarine Fleet.  Bomb and mine disposal in the Clyde areas.  

1968 - 1970

Diving and EOD Supervisor in the Far East Clearance Diving Team.  Responsible for Second World War munitions location and disposal, salvage and general clearance diving duties.  Whilst in the Far East CD Team involved in hands on clearance of Japanese and Allied mines and bombs in the Malayan Peninsular and as far South as Fiji.  Worked with the US EOD Forces in Cambodia and Vietnam.  Salvaged explosives and bullion from RFA Ennerdale before flattening the wreck with explosive charges in the Seychelle Islands.  With a 3-man team he blasted channels through coral reefs in the Maldive Islands and Diago Garcia for  "military logistic support".

1966 - 1968

Qualified as a Diving Supervisor / Instructor, attended the Defence EOD School's Advanced Staff course and then commissioned the Clearance Diving EOD and Diving Support Team at the then new Polaris Submarine Base in Faslane.  Responsible for the clearance of First and Second World War mines and munitions on old MofD ranges prior to the fabrication of the Naval Base and Polaris magazines.

1964 - 1966

Chief Bosun's Mate on board the first of the Royal Navy's mine-hunter vessels conducting "first of class mine-countermeasures trials" detecting "all Nations" underwater weapons.  Successfully conducted mine clearance operations in wartime munitions contaminated zones.  

1955 - 1964

Joined the Royal Navy as a Boy Seaman.  Qualified as a Shallow Water (Oxygen) Diver in 1956 and Clearance Diver in 1959.  Qualified in chemical, nuclear, conventional weapons and improvised explosive device disposal.  Undertook various tours with Clearance Diving Teams in the UK, Far and Middle East, directly involved in bomb and mine disposal operations on land and subsea as well as maritime counter terrorist activities and the salvage of numerous sunken ships and aircraft.  Trained and worked with the Special Boat Service (SBS), Royal Marines and the Special Air Service (SAS).