BRITISH COLUMBIA ARTISTS  

BC Artists At War

I keep coming across bits of information about artists who went to war, either as official war artists or in the armed forces as combatants, so I thought it would be interesting to list them. The list is chronological by war, then alphabetical by artist.

ARTIST WAR ROLE SUMMARY
Stanley D.F. Tytler Indian Mutiny
Zulu Wars
British Army		 Born at Delhi 1857 during Indian Mutiny. Served as Lieutenant, Natal Native Contingent during the Zulu Wars (1879).
Sherman, R.S. Riel Rebellion 38th Dufferin Rifles Private, Corporal, Sergeant. Served from 1884 to 1889.
Innes, John Boer War Cavalry 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles. Awarded medal and three clasps.
Balfour, S.H. World War One
World War Two		 British Navy
British Navy
Lieutenant-Commander. Awarded Croix de Guerre for action at Narvik. Killed in action in sinking of cruiser Southampton.
Bater, Frank W. World War One Infantry Served 3 years overseas Winnipeg Regiment
Brooks, Allan World War One Infantry (sniper) Major. Awarded D.S.O. Commanded Canadian Army Sniper School.
Bursill, Frances N. World War One Infantry Severely wounded in the face, chin, throat.
Cherry, E.J. World War One Infantry Enlisted with 103rd Battalion from Victoria. Wounded with "gas" and neurasthenia and convalesced in England.
Erickson, Oscar World War One Infantry Wounded Amiens, double leg amputations. Awarded King's Medal.
Ffrench, Conrad World War One

World War Two		 Captain Royal Irish Regiment. Wounded at Mons, captured by Germans. Prisoner to 1918.
Spy for MI.6 between wars.
Godfrey, Marcel World War One

World War Two		 ?

Provost Corps.		 "my old war wound" (1937 letter)

Lieutenant
Hamilton, Mary R. World War One War Artist Voluntarily went to France from 1918 to 1920 to paint battlefields and other scenes.
Leighton, A.C. World War One Royal Flying Corps "He is a veteran of the World War and suffers from the effects of poison gas" (1935)
Rawson, Charles H. World War One Infantry Canadian Expeditionary Force. Wounded on the Western Front & invalided.
Scott, Charles H. World War One Infantry Canadian Expeditionary Force. Wounded on the Western Front & invalided.
G.L.T. Sharp World War One Infantry Canadian Expeditionary Force, Captain, 47th Infantry Battalion. Awarded Military Cross Nov. 5 1918. Awarded Bar for Military Cross Oct. 4 1919 for action on Oct. 1 1918.
Shearman, A.E. World War One Infantry Canadian Expeditionary Force, 68th Depot Battery. Returned to Vancouver after the war.
Hessay, Carle Spanish Civil War

World War Two

 Republican Army

Engineers

 Volunteered to Spain, captured, escaped.

Royal Canadian Engineers.
Bates, Maxwell World War Two British Army Captured by Germans at Dunkirk. Prisoner until end of the war.
Bobak, Bruno World War Two Official War Artist
Bobak, Molly Lamb World War Two Official War Artist Lieutenant, C.W.A.C.
Clymer, John Ford World War Two U.S. Marine Corps Painted a series of episodes from the Marine Corps history that were widely reproduced and exhibited.
Ensor, John World War Two Official War Artist Served in British Army. Completed artworks of British war factories.
Fisher, Orville World War Two Official War Artist Sapper in Canadian Army. Landed on Mike Beach, D-day. Served in Ottawa, France, Holland, England.
Goranson, Paul World War Two Official War Artist Royal Canadian Air Force bomber squadron 1941 to 1947. Served in Canada, England, North Africa, Italy, France, Belgium, Holland and Germany.
Hughes, E.J. World War Two Official War Artist Royal Canadian Artillery. Served in Canada, England and Alaska
Kearley, Mark H. World War Two ? German prisoner-of-war.
Roozeboom, A. World War Two Netherlands Airborne Commandos Killed in action Arnhiem 1944.
Shadbolt, Jack World War Two Official War Artist Canadian Army. Served in Canada, England.

SELECTED REFERENCES (chronological)

THE GOLD STRIPE - Volume One
      1918, Christmas. Published by the Amputation Club of B.C., Vancouver
      216 pages (including text, advertisements and photographs)
      Heavily illustrated by many early Vancouver artists.

THE GOLD STRIPE - Volume Two
      1919, May. Published by the Amputation Club of B.C., Vancouver
      220 pages (including text, advertisements and photographs)
      Heavily illustrated by many early Vancouver artists.

THE GOLD STRIPE - Volume Three
      1919. Published by the Amputation Club of B.C., Vancouver
      Colour and black & white illustrations by many early Vancouver artists.

"LES PAUVRES" AND ITS ARTIST"
      Museum and Art Notes June 1929; by Mrs. W. Garland Foster
      Published by the Art, Historical, & Scientific Association of Vancouver.

CANADIAN WAR ARTISTS - Water Colours and Line Sketches
        of scenes during the Canadian Army's advance through France
        and Belgium (June - October 1944) by official Canadian War Artists
      1944 exhibition, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium
      Text in English and Dutch
      Includes short forward, list of works by six artists:
      Major Charles Comfort; Captain G.D. Pepper;
      Captain O.N. Fisher; Captain C. Tinning;
      Captain D.A. Colville; Lieutenant B.J. Bobak

CANADIAN WAR ARTISTS - Water Colours and Line Sketches
        of scenes during the Canadian Army's advance through Italy,
        Holland, and Germany by official Canadian War Artists
      1945 exhibition, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
      Text in English & Dutch
      Includes short forward, list of works by six artists:
      Major Charles Comfort; Captain G.D. Pepper;
      Captain O.N. Fisher; Captain C. Tinning;
      Captain D.A. Colville; Lieutenant B.J. Bobak

A TERRIBLE BEAUTY: The Art of Canada at War
      1977, by Heather Robinson
      Published by Lorimer, Ottawa ON; ISBN 978-0888621443

A WILDERNESS OF DAYS
      "An artist's experiences as a prisoner of war in Germany"
      1978, by Maxwell Bates, Sono Nis Press, Victoria
      ISBN 0-919462-56-1 (134 pages, hardcover)
      Autobiography, no index, illust. black & white

ALLAN BROOKS - ARTIST NATURALIST
      1979, B.C. Provincial Museum Special Publication 3
      By Hamilton M. Laing, ISBN 0-7718-8110-X; 256 pages, paperback
      Illust. black & white throughout, 8 colour plates
      References, personal letters and journals by Brooks, military record

DELICATE MISSION: Autobiography of a Secret Agent
      1979, by Conrad Ffrench, published by Skilton and Shaw, London
      ISBN 0-7050-0062-1.

AN ENGLISHWOMAN IN INDIA - THE MEMOIRS OF HARRIET TYTLER 1828 - 1858
      1986, Oxford Letters & Memoirs series; ISBN 0-19-282100-8
      240 pages, illustrated black & white, index, footnotes, essays

NO MAN'S LAND: The Battlefield Paintings of Mary Riter Hamilton 1919-1922
      1989, The University of Winnipeg
      Angela E. Davis & Sarah M. McKinnon
      ISBN 0-9694178-0-2; 40 pages, paperback
      Includes biographical essay, list of works, chronology. Illust. colour/b&w.

DOUBLE DUTY: Sketches & Diaries of Molly Lamb Bobak, Canadian War Artist
      1992, Dundurn Press, Toronto, ON
      By Molly Bobak; edited C. Gossage; foreword C. Comfort
      ISBN 1-55002-166-4; 156 pages, paperback
      Bibliography, illust. colour/b&w, Lamb's sketchbooks with reminiscences

CANVAS OF WAR - Painting the Canadian Experience 1914 to 1945
      2000, by Dean F. Oliver, Laura Brandon; Foreword by J.L. Granatstein
      Douglas & McIntyre Ltd., ISBN 1-55054-772-0
      178 pages illustrated in colour and b&w
      Includes essays, chronology, sources, index of works, index of artists.

ART OR MEMORIAL?: The Forgotten History of Canada's War Art
      2006, by Laura Brandon
      University of Calgary Press
      ISBN 978-1-55238-178-6; 192 pages

ART AT THE SERVICE OF WAR: Canada, Art, and the Great War
      2013, by Maria Tippett
      University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division
      ISBN 978-1442616042; 200 pages


HOME