There were a couple of hiccups along the way - a few broken splices, and crooked sprockets, and the time we didn't realise the take-up spool had got stuck...:
In the end we lost three reels to "vinegar syndrome", but I don't believe any of them were his footage of Operation Noah. One appears to have been shot by a television station (NBC) for what I assume was a current affairs program of the day titled "Outlook":
It's a shame - it would have been nice to see how the more professional footage measured up against Grandpa Rupert's. But I have to say, for an amateur he did a pretty top-quality job, and seeing the footage in its original glory (without the inevitable fading and scratches that come with a well-used dupe) is really quite spectacular.
I'll try to get some snippets up on to youtube as soon as time permits...
Congratulations! This is a wonderful thing you are doing.
ReplyDeleteWow I've never seen this blog before Kirsten, really awesome!
ReplyDeleteHi, your grandad's work has been an inspiration for me to try to do the same at a dam coming up at Bakun, Sarawak, Malaysia. I have the DVD of Operation Noah from the UK but what you have done is totally awesome.We are trying to get permission from the authorities and hopefully we can emulate your grandad. You can check it out at my blog:
ReplyDeleteborneorescue.blogspot.com.
Thanks a million
neoh
I count myself truly fortunate enough to have spent some time with your Grandfather and his team on Lake Kariba. I was in my early twenties at the time and was sent there to make sound recordings for the FBC,which was the local broadcaster at that time.This was way back in the early 1960's and we spent a week or so living and working with him during the time that he first began to rescue black rhino from some of the submerging islands on the rapidly filing lake. I've got some digital images scanned in from 35mm colour slides taken at the time which I would like to download to you. They are fairly good quality and one of them shows your grandfather preparing one of the first tranquiliser darts he used to sedate rhinos. Another shows one of the sedated rhinos, together with the team being towed on a raft across the lake to the safety of the distant shore. This one to me captures in a single image all that Operation Noah was about and achieved.
ReplyDeleteAs you can imagine, this was indeed a fantastic experience which I've often thought about since with a mixture of great joy and admiration for all those who spent so much of there lives rescuing all those animals.
My only true regret is that I never managed to return and spend more time with him and his dedicated team. They were all truly great people and indeed you have every right to be very proud of who he was and what he achieved in his life.
My grandfather "Tadeusz Edelman" was involved in Operation Noah I assume with your grandfather. My father and his brother grew up looking after all sorts of rescued animals even including baby elephants. I have always wanted to track down additional footage for my father and his brother and if possible i'd love to contribute some images in our family albums of this truley amazing task your grandfathers achieved.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Dean
I would also love to get a copy of any digitised copies of materials that you may have on this operation for my father and his brother as well as my self. He was an amazing grandfather who I never really got to know before he passed away.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Dean Edelman