Flight log, George W. Percival RCAF

[edwest]

Flight Lieutenant George W. Percival

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=6638708856



Usual disclaimer,
Ed

Gentlemen,

I was shocked to view the material George Percival's family auctioned off. Did not know he died, or that his family had no interest in his RCAF wartime career. They must have needed the money badly?

I met George back in 1979 in Brandon, Manitoba when he visited his flight engineer Mike Bachinsky who flew with him on 431 Squadron Lancaster aircraft. At the time George did not mention having flown a previous tour in north Africa.

I now regret having lost the opportunity to document this veterans entire RCAF history.

Norman Malayney

Gentlemen,

The seller over embellished when saying George Percival had a camera. According to Mike Bachinsky, Percivial did not have a camera at Croft with 431 Squadron. And I doubt if he had a camera in North Africa.

Bachinsky flew a tour with 44 Squadron, then became an engineer instructor, and later selected as part of the ferry crew on KB700 Rhur Express to the UK. A National Film Board of Canada photogrpaher gave Mike a 100 foot reel of 35mm film. Mike bought a camera in the UK, spooled his own film, and started taking photos. Besides the typical National Georgraphic pictures of the UK, Mike took photos at Croft. He kept the camera in his tunic. Using a bicycle, he rode around Croft and when no one was watching, he took out his 35 mm camera and took photos of the aircraft, etc.

Mike loaned me all his 35 mm negatives and I had several sets of prints made for members of his crew. I droppd them off at Mike's residence the day Percival visited. George was traveling across Canada, visiting various members of his crew and RCAF buddies, and stopped to visit Mike. Pericival delivered these sets of pictures to the various 431 crew members of X for X-ray, or as the letters on the Lancaster fuelage read, SE-X.

I sent copies of Bachinsky photos to Mike Garbett and Brian Goulding who used some in their Lancaster books. Also, Larry Milberry of Toronto used a lot of Bachinsky's photos in his books on the RCAF. I note on the e-Bay web page that several of Mike's Lancaster and crew photos appear.

I made arrangments for Mike's collection of negatives eventually be deposited in Canada Archives, Ottawa. This is only a small protion of negatives that he took. He had over 200 negatives from 44 Squdaron but these were destroyed in the 1950 Manitoba flood. I took the damaged negatives to the Manitoba Archives, but they stated they were beyond any possiblity of retrieval. So they went into the garbage can.

Norman Malayney

[Franek Grabowski]

Originally Posted by norman malayney

I took the damaged negatives to the Manitoba Archives, but they stated they were beyond any possiblity of retrieval. So they went into the garbage can.

Never dump any old photos or negatives as with the help of modern technology it is possible to make real miracles.