Who fired the starter's gun on Thursday 6th May 1954, 3 min 59.4 sec before the mile race finished?

During his time at Exeter college he [Ray Barkway] befriended and trained alongside Roger Bannister and was the official starter for Bannisters four-minute mile record breaking run on 6 May 1954. The silver Smith & Wesson revolver used by Barkway is now on display at Clifton College in Bristol, where Barkway worked as Chemistry teacher upon finishing his studies at Oxford. A member of the RAF reserve, and later the Naval Reserve, he reached the rank of Lieutenant and traveled to Canada where he underwent elementary pilot training. By coincidence he was taught his flying skills by the son of his former Maths teacher at Watford Boys.