George was the twin of Ruth. As the first boy after a succession of girls he had a special place in the affections of his father, after whom he was named.
Normal kind of Catholic boys' education at Marist Brothers Rondebosch (St. Josephs) where he played rugby. Gave me his rugger jersey which I used at practice when I was at school. Failed his Matric (school-leaving/university entrance qualification).
There was a war on and at the age of 17 he volunteered for the Air Force, hoping to become a pilot. SAAF aircrew needed a matric certificate. He lied and said he had one. They demanded to see it and he said he'd bring it next Monday, then that it had got lost and he'd sent for a duplicate... and so on until he was fully trained and the Air Force just gave up.
My clearest early memory of George was of him coming to visit us in Johannesburg (JHB) while at a SAAF training base near Pretoria, about 30 miles to the north. When they had weekend leave one of his fellow recruits who had a car would head south for the bright lights of JHB filling the car with as many others as he could cram in. For half a crown (two shillings and sixpence or 12.5p in today's money) they could have a seat. Otherwise for one shilling the hardy and impecunious could curl up in the boot ('trunk' in American). Seems George mostly went in the boot.
The planes used in training were mostly the Tiger Moth (left) and if you could fly that the Harvard (below). I don't know how far George got but he didn't make it as a pilot. Seems he could get the plane up, but not down safely. So they made him a navigator. In those days this was a matter of following 
roads, rivers and railways or by dead reckoning using compass, ruler and dividers and a lot of arithmetic.
He ended up navigating Liberator B-24 bombers. His plane was shot down over Hungary.
He suffered burns but managed to parachute to earth where he was herded with others into a railway cattle truck and taken to one of the Stalagluft POW camps in Germany. The family only learnt this months after he was posted as missing.
Graham has explained that "when he bailed out he pulled the D-ring of the parachute release so hard it broke the steel cable and he was still clutching it in his hand when he landed. He kept it through POW camp and brought it back after release." I remember that D-ring and always wondered how it got to Cape Town.
After the war and release from the POW camp he returned to SA and became involved in the building trade, eventually getting a job with an international firm specialising in floor tiles. He also met Anita, a local girl, and they married in about 1950.
Rising rapidly through the ranks, in the mid-50s he was promoted to a managerial post in JHB. George always had his wits about him and took advantage of any opportunity that came his way.
To begin with the family lived near Rita (de Fine) in Parkhurst, not far from us. But after being made managing director of Dunlop Semtex he moved to more spacious premises outside the city boundary.
After his father died George increasingly took on the role of head of the family. He provided advice, support, and help to people who needed it. For instance he would take my mother shopping and to Mass, and found a job for his brother Frank.
George retired early on health grounds (heart, I think). They moved back to the Cape to which most of the rest of his original family had returned. He retained links with his old firm and had an interest in an estate agency business. He died (in 1991 approx) of lung cancer I was told, though I don't think he'd had a cigarette for thirty years. Anita is still alive and when I last saw her in 1994 seemed as fresh and pleasant as I remembered he from the 1950s.
George and 'Nita had seven children, the youngest two being twins. As adults two of the boys died under separate tragic circumstances. At the last count this was the situation.
John (shown right, with a reminder of what he looked like many years ago). Lives in Australia. Married, no known issue.This picture shows Nita and all her children at a family gathering marking John's visit to Cape Town in February 2006.
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