George Taylor (1904-1943)
George Taylor (c1904-1943)
1944 Obituary [1]
Captain GEORGE TAYLOR was connected with the South African Railways during the whole of his professional career. After serving his apprenticeship from 1923 to 1927 he became an improver in the drawing offices of the chief mechanical engineer and the locomotive department at Durban.
Three years later he was transferred to Pretoria, where he was responsible to the chief locomotive draughtsman for the design of details of locomotive construction. After holding this position for eight years (during which period he also acted as part-time lecturer at Pretoria Technical College) he was appointed assistant engineer in the road motor transport department at Johannesburg, with a varied responsibility, including bench tests and investigation of causes of engine failures, in addition to the setting of examination papers for drivers. Subsequently he was placed in charge of the large and important Langlaagte workshops.
After the outbreak of the present war he received a commission in the South African Railways Technical Corps and eventually proceeded to Egypt on active service, where his death on 1st May 1943 terminated a promising career at the early age of thirty-nine. Captain Taylor became a Student of the Institution in 1930, and was transferred to Associate Membership in 1939.