National Capital Chapter 70 - Ottawa, Canada
VE3JA Biography 
Brodie Gillies - SK - QCWA# 8642 (Silent Key)
Background
Brodie grew up and attended schools in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Education / Employment History
- 1936 - Brodie graduated from University of British Columbia with a double degree in Arts and Applied Science (both Electrical and Mechanical)
- 1937 - Graduate course in Economics and Forest Management and a log scaling school.
- 1937 - He joined the firm of Gillies Brothers in Braeside, Ontario (near Ottawa).
- 1937-1945 - Had various functions in and around the Gillies Mill and woods operations.
- 1945 - He started building a new Gillies Mill at Temagami, Ontario
- 1946-1955 - He was responsible for operation of both Braeside and Temagami mills.
- 1956 - Brodie visited the winter operations of several Swedish mills.
- 1956 - Designed and built the Waltham Hardwood Mill at Waltham, Quebec
- 1957-1958 - He was now in charge of Waltham plus Braeside and Temagami mills.
- 1958 - Brodie undertook the $2.5 Million design and construction of a new Braeside Mill to take over from Temagami which was being phased out. Logs would now come all the way down to Braeside on the Ottawa River.
- 1960-1965 - VP of Mill Production as output increased from 21 to 31 Million feet/yr
- 1964 - Brodie took the Queen’s University Executive Course.
- 1965 - Gillies Brothers was sold to Consolidated Paper.
- 1965-1967 - He took several trips abroad to visit mills and woods operations in Malawi, Guyana, Holland, Germany, France, Belgium and South America as well as other mills in Eastern Canada with the Forest Products Research Society.
Amateur Radio History
- 1934 - Brodie was first licensed as VE5BG in Vancouver – on air with home-brew 160M rig with RK20 tube screen-modulated with a 56 tube.
- 1935 - Endorsed for all-band phone operation.
- 1937 - Moved to Braeside, Ontario. Now VE3JA
- 1938 - Operated mostly 10M with home-built AM rig and rotary beam antenna
- 1939-1945 – Inactive due to WWII
- 1962 - Warehouse fire destroyed the home-built rig while new house being built.
- 1963 - Purchased a Collins KWM-2 with 30L1 Linear Amplifier and 312B5 Console
- 1969 - Purchased an Icom IC-2F 2M FM Rig to complete the station for all-band operation.
Additional Information
Brodie was a member of QCWA and one of the twenty-one Charter Members of Chapter 70.
He passed away in the Spring of 1981.