Our own Aston Born Genius : George Flanner - The Inventor

By Stan Wood

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This true story is about a friend of mine named George W. Flanner, born 13 February 1925 in a back house in Walmer Place 3/192 Aston Brook Street.

Later on they moved up in the world to a double house, No. 194, at the front with a back garden. He was the youngest of the family. He had a sister Eva, two brothers, Louie and Frank, and his mom Alice and dad Bob, who worked at the Dunlop for many years as did Louie and Frank.

I met George in 1954. He was a brilliant self-taught electronics inventor, light years ahead of his time. He went to Burlington Street School, a poor scholar, too busy with his radios. He joined the boy scouts 226th Group at St. Stephens, Newtown Row, Aston, but he did not like taking orders especially off the troop leader who happened to be his brother Frank. George always had to be the boss, as he was later in life.

In 1939, at the outbreak of the war, he got on his bike and became a police messenger all through the blitz bombing. He had no fear. One day during a lecture, the officer said they were now transmitting on FM to stop the public listening in but George shouted out, 'Arm, but I can hear you". They were dumfounded and when he proved it, he was offered a job with them. Later on he worked for The Monitor Radio Co., making secret clandestine radio equipment for the war department. After the war, he started up on his own as G. W. Flanner repairing radio's and T V sets at home in the attic. He could find the faults like lightening and if he thought they were not worth repairing, he slung the chassis out of the attic window into the back garden.

George kept himself very busy building video recorders, remote camera controls, smoke alarms and Video phones. George built his own TV camera and transmitted live pictures. I had an O.A.P customer that I rented a TV to. She lived near George and one day she complained that it used to change stations on its own and make some funny noises. A quiet word with you-know-who, soon cured it, but sadly like most Geniuses he was a very poor business man. I met him a few times in my pal’s shop Billy Warrel's Radio, on Bracebridge Street.

Bill was a good friend of his. He used to send him round to my shop on his old bike for cut price radio valves. One day he did not have enough money with him, so we swapped a valve for a dozen eggs that he had bought off Bill who used to keep chickens in his smallholding in Stourport. George later started up in business with two partners, his pal, next door neighbour George Tidmarsh and John Smith, calling themselves F.S.T electronic consultants. Bill told me that the head men at Millers lamp factory, which I believe was once owned by the German firm Mullersi, paid George a lot of money to work for them on his new inventions. They supplied him with an office, plenty of free food, vodka, cigarettes and a very beautiful young secretary, to keep him happy. Bob set his own hours to work. He only lived just round the corner. They asked him once to go to their German factory behind the Iron Curtain but he did not fancy that in case he could not come back home. I did not see him again after that, and do not know if he ever went over there.

I later learned from his brother Frank who has been a great help in putting this story together, that George was looked after by the excellent local, Dr Kelly, who called most days to see him. Sadly George could not cope with the heavy burdens of business and chronic asthma and diabetes that he had suffered with all his life and on 28 February 1969, he took an over-dose of medication and passed away at the young age of 44. What if he had kept that cushy job at Millers? Maybe he would still be here but George could not take orders. He always had to be the boss. He could have been a Bill Gates and a multi-millionaire if he had lived. What a sad loss for Frank and his family, his pal George Tidmarsh who lived next door, and all his friends. He must never be forgotten. God bless him.

GEORGE FLANNER REVISITED

By HOWARD REE

Stan Wood writes an entertaining article, in respect of his knowledge about George up to a certain stage of his life. I though, had connections with George right up to his untimely departure but knew nothing of his family or private life. Thanks to Stan for bringing these perspectives. I knew only too well of his illnesses and of his battles to overcome them. I could well have met Stan because there was hardly a day which I did not visit Bill's shop on the way through.

At that time George had been working on what I can only describe as the miniaturization of a television camera. It was around this time he attended, what we call today a Seminar, a large number of very eminent technicians of the day were also there. George, the visionary, addressed this assembly stating that he saw in the future the demise of the ordinary camera and how we would be using a hand-held assembly which would take both still and moving images.(1950’s) He saw our mobile phone type cameras of today, way back then.

An eminent member from the technical department of the BBC, listened to George and then gave a reply. I think this was something along the line of the fact he was well aware of George's capabilities but this time he had not given enough thought to the tremendously high frequencies and other considerations that would be required to make it possible and it was all ‘pie in the sky’. How wrong he was!

Soon after this event, George approached me, as I was involved in both engineering and electronics, explaining at length that he had realised that a basic screen of moving imaging data contained a large proportion of information that didn't change. Remember, we are in the 1950’s when, straight out of the box, most electronic equipment needed a friendly slap or tickle to ensure it worked. George asked for a little help with the supply of parts and equipment, which I gladly did and low and behold, he produced a working camera and proceeded to take a picture of a large cross on a white background and then transferred the image via a domestic tape recorder to a standard television screen, panning the camera across the subject and explaining to me the thinking behind his ideas. I did have some camera shots of this event but unfortunately, over the years, they have been lost, however the following week the whole event was reported in a Saturday edition of, ‘The Evening Despatch’ occupying a full half page.

Also in the same article was mention of a new idea of George's - what he called a presence alarm, to us today a burglar alarm. The Birmingham City Police were interested in this and it was, to my knowledge, the first time any such product had been mentioned either here or abroad.

These are some of the fond memories that I have of this inspiring man, called George Flanner, who unfortunately died before he could reach the full heights of his great potential.