John Aytoun Underwood was at Wellington during the second half of World War Two, in the Combermere from 1942 to 1946. He was made a College Prefect, Head of House and Head of the Gymnasium.
He went to Sandhurst in 1947 and joined was commissioned into the Corps of Royal Engineers. He went up to Peterhouse in 1950 and took his degree.
During his army career he became a specialist in the Army’s mapping section, serving in Singapore, Vanuatu in the Pacific, and Guam, together with the more prosaic but mainstay postings in Germany and UK. Serving in UK in the 60’s and 70’s he was part of the Ordnance Survey teams that worked on updating the UK OS maps and building the familiar ‘trig points’ that so many soldiers and civilians so well.
After leaving the Army in the 70’s having reached the rank of Major, John continued his work as a surveyor and cartographer, and indeed returned to work from his home in St Andrews. He was a keen golfer, and a member of the R&A.
He was initiated into the Lodge in 1951, and was Master in 1967.
He died in 2005.