I love my job! I get to help all sorts of interesting people - training for a new job, fixing problems, offering advice, or helping folks communicate with distant friends and family. But just occasionally something extra special comes along and something which can help make a real difference.
So it was last Friday afternoon when Caroline phoned to see if I could restore an old photograph of her father and crew of KC "P", their Lancaster of 617 Dambusters Squadron. She explained that she needed it for a reunion the following day in Windsor and couldn't risk taking the precious and badly damaged print she wanted to pass around. Although her father is no longer alive, she hoped that someone at the reunion might recognise him, or others in the photo.
The picture was glued to the frame of a painting of their Lancaster in flight, so we started by taking photographs of it just in the case it was damaged further when we removed it. Luckily it came away quite easily and although torn, curled up at the edges and quite fragile, we were able to get a good scan ready for restoration. I delivered the precious original back later in the day, together with an enlarged and restored version that Caroline could take to the reunion. Job done, everyone happy!
On Sunday I had another call from Caroline with wonderful news! At the reunion people had indeed remembered her father and the crew of KC "P" when the new print had been passed around. But that was not all. Caroline does sterling work raising money in aid of cancer charities through Lunch4Life, and was offered the fantastic prize of a trip in a two seat Spitfire to auction to raise funds. That very evening the Spitfire flight from Duxford raised £8000 in aid of the charities. Now that really was the icing on the cake.
Images © All Rights Reserved by Caroline Davies
