Wortley, Colin

Colin Wortley was born January 18, 1945 in Toronto, Ontario.  His father was a decorated World War two veteran, having been awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal for RAF service in North Africa.  When he returned to Canada Colin’s father left the air force, but he decided to re-enlist in 1950, as the Cold War was heating up.  He ended up going into radar and missile detection and he was based in a number of locations through the 50s and into the 60s, making Colin and his siblings “air force brats” who would be raised all over Canada.  Colin’s education saw its interruptions as a result, but he ended up in college in Nova Scotia, where he made the decision to join the reserve forces to help with his tuition.  He did well in his engineering studies, and the military had him further his education and delayed his first posting.  Colin went into defence research, and he was actively involved in developing technology to hunt Soviet submarines during the 70s, working alongside the Americans and Canada’s international allies.  He also spent time in the United States, working with Lockheed Martin to develop the Aurora aircraft; the rapid pace of technological change in the 70s and 80s impacted his career, and Colin was on the cutting edge, working in new media like computer software.  He was much sought after in this period, and was recruited as a professor at Canada’s Royal Military College.  Both in the service and as a civilian Colin served his fellow Canadians for many years.  Colin Wortley was interviewed by Scott Masters in August 2022, at his home in Lincoln, Ontario.