Sir Paul Julius Gottlieb Gueterbock died on 8th March, 1954, at his home at Abbots Leigh, near Bristol. He was 67 years of age.
He was educated at Rugby and Trinity College, Cambridge, which he entered in 1905, joining the Cambridge University Rifle Volunteers as second lieutenant two years later. In 1908 he took a first in the Natural Science Tripos and obtained a B.A. degree, becoming a major scholar. He received the M.A. degree in 1911.
In August, 1909, he joined the staff of Messrs. Capper Pass and Son, Ltd., Bristol, as chemist and metallurgist, and carried out research in alloys of tin and lead. In that year also he was granted a Territorial commission in The Gloucestershire Regiment, and during the 1914-18 war served with the fourth battalion and in various staff appointments, gaining mention in dispatches, the M.C., and the D.S.O.
On rejoining Capper Pass and Son, in March, 1919, he was made manager, and in June, 1925, was appointed director and technical adviser. He became managing director in 1937, and was chairman of subsidiary companies.
He commanded the fourth battalion The Gloucestershire Regiment from 1924 until his promotion to the rank of colonel in 1929. He was also Chairman of the Gloucestershire County Rifle Association for 1923-24, and Chairman of the Gloucestershire Territorial Association from 1933 to 1952. He became Deputy Lieutenant of Gloucestershire in 1946, and in 1947 was appointed additional A.D.C. to King George VI, and on the accession of the Queen in 1952 that appointment was renewed. He was created K.C.B. in 1949.
Sir Paul was elected to Membership of the Institution in 1929 and served continuously as Member of Council from 1947, and had been elected a Vice-President for the Session 1954-55. He was also a Past-President of the Institute of Metals, and Chairman of the British Non-Ferrous Smelters Association from 1945 to 1950. He had served on the Council of the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association for several years.
Mr. E.H. Jones writes: ‘Sir Paul was a man of great intelligence and his ability to analyse a problem, technical or financial, made a deep impression on those who worked with him. His patience and tenacity of purpose not only increased the chances of success of any project which he undertook, but were of great value in the training of younger men who worked under him.
He always conducted himself with dignity, and may have, at times, seemed somewhat aloof; this was more due to a natural reserve of manner than to indifference to the opinion of others — on the contrary, he valued the friendship and goodwill of his fellow men very highly. Although well read and with a broad knowledge of many subjects, his work in the metallurgical industry was overwhelmingly his greatest interest in life, and with typical courage and determination he forced himself to take on more than was wise at times when he was not physically fit.
Unfortunately, some years before his death his health began to fail and this prevented him from making full use latterly of his very great abilities.
He will be remembered with admiration and respect by his fellow members’.
Vol. 64 Trans IMM 1954-55, pp.35-36
