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An MBE for Joan's father

An MBE for an aerial camera

Joan's father was awarded an MBE in the 1943 New Year honours list. It was for his work at Kodak developing high resolution cameras for the RAF. These made it possible for the airforce to know how much damage they had done to targets they were bombing in Germany. The award was announced in the London Gazette on January 4th 1943.
London Gazette

Joan's father told her of the award in his letter of January 9th, 1943. Her mother described their visit to Buckingham Palace for the presentation of the medal in her letter of March 20th, 1943.

Joan's father goes to Rochester

After the war, Joan's father Sydney visited the Kodak1 Head Office in Rochester. This was at the end of 1947. The Kodak newspaper ('Kodakery') reported on his visit and talked about the MBE and how he had earned it. However, it stated that it was awarded in 1942, which is not correct.
Kodakery front page
Kodakery article
Kodakery article

  1. Kodak is an American company that produces various products related to its film photography. The company has its headquarters in Rochester, New York. Joan's father was an assistant superintendant at Kodak's factory in Harrow and she was evacuated to Rochester in 1940 as part of a scheme organised by the company.