JOHN  MILNER  CHING (1916-1994)

John Ching was born on the 28 May 1916 and he was at Kent College from 1927 to 1933.  Unusually for those days he was no games player and yet became popularly respected by his contemporaries, to be made prefect in his last year.

The secret of his popularity was his ebullient, extrovert personality and readiness to lend a hand to anyone in difficulties.  His two, or if we include his penchant for the fairer sex, three absorbing interests were music and cars – the first catered for at school by playing hymns at assemblies.

While episodes with cars featured in his time at school, they provided him with his livelihood as an adult.  He worked at the MG Works before joining the sales department of Rolls Royce at a prestigious showroom in London, and rejoiced in showing off a shining Lambourgini in the driveway on Old Canterburians weekends.

He joined the Royal Army Service Corps in 1940 and spent some time in the Far East with the Royal Air Force and the Chinese National Airways Corportation for whom he claimed to have been the first to fly supplies into Burma.  As Sports Officer to the combined RASC units team in Ceylon and scorer for the Columbo Cricket Club, he showed his earlier helpfulness.

His contributions to the Old Canterburian Club, whose meetings he regularly attended for many years as a Committee member, were twofold:- first as their President from 1974 to 1976 and more important and of inestimable value for many years, as self appointed collector of advertisements for the OC magazine, which made a notable contribution to reducing its costs.

John retired to Portugal, where he died on the 14 March 1994.

APLS