Thursday, October 09, 2008

G. R. Parvin

A relatively minor contributor to the war libraries, G. R. Parvin had, it would appear, served during the Second World War during which he was captured and made a P.O.W. by the Japanese. His experiences were told in the book Yasumai (1958). At least one of his later War Picture Library contributions, The Long March, was set around the Railroad of Death in Burma.

Rol Parvin (right) with his brother John shortly before heading overseas
George Roland Parvin was born in Lewisham on 20 July 1917, the eldest surviving son of Leslie George Parvin, a metal turner, and his wife Elsie Isabella Mary (nee Hills), who had married at St James parish church, Hatcham, on 4 August 1913. Rol (as he was known to his family) married Elsie G. Binley in Dartford, Kent, in 1941 and had children Roslyn P. , Claire Jacqueline (1947-1968) and Mark Roland.

Parvin was a director of IPC Business Press (Sales & Distribution) Ltd. and was made a MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honour list in June 1982. He lived at 25 Blessington Road, Lee Green S.E.13 [1953] before moving to 46 Sidney Road, Beckenham [1955/65], 71 Wickham Way, Beckenham [1966/76], 14 The Fieldings, Forest Hill S.E.23 [1979/83].

He died from cancer in Bromley, Kent, on 29 December 1997, aged 80.

STRIPOGRAPHY
Black Axe, the Saxon Avenger, illus. various (Buster, c.1960s)
Cottonwool Commandos, illus. Martin Salvador (War Picture Library 137, Mar 1962)
Company of Heroes (War Picture Library 147, May 1962)
The Long March, illus. Ramon de la Fuente (War Picture Library 206, Aug 1963)
Traitor Brand, illus. Aurelio Bevia (Battle Picture Library 125, Oct 1963)
Point of Impact, illus. Puezzo (Giant War Picture Library 40, Mar 1965)
Assume Command, illus. Eduardo Feito (Battle Picture Library 246, Apr 1966)

(* The illustration at the top is from the original artwork by Pino Dell'Orco for War Picture Library 206 and is © IPC Media. With thanks to Denny Lien for spotting the news that Parvin was made an MBE. And thanks to David Parvin for additional information and the photo.)
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4 comments:

  1. randomguy21 Aug 2009, 23:36:00

    Your comments are correct about G R Parvin. I am his grandson

    ReplyDelete
  2. Steve22 Aug 2009, 08:23:00

    I wonder if you'd care to share any memories of your grandfather and information about his career. Did he write anything else?

    "The Long March", one of his contributions to War Picture Library appears in the collection Up And At 'Em!.

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  3. randomguy7 Sept 2009, 11:35:00

    He did write another unpublished book and we still have the draft of this.

    He also wrote quite a few of the War Picture Library comics, but the exact number is unknown. He also was involved in some of the writing for the Eagle series, again, which and how many is unknown.

    I have a copy of "The Long March" and of his book, Yasumai!

    I was very lucky to know him for many years, he passed away in Dec 1997 after a 6 or so months of illness. I was 16 at the time. His wife passed away earlier this year.

    I was only 1 when he retired, so I know very little about his working life.

    I hope this helps, if I do unearth any more information, I will let you know.

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  4. Steve7 Sept 2009, 12:34:00

    Thanks for the additional information. It's only through friendly family members that we can ever hope to add to the information we know about many of the scriptwriters and artists who worked on comics, entertaining millions every week without even a credit.

    ReplyDelete