John Edgar Platt:
St Anthony’s Lighthouse, Falmouth, 1941
Framed (ref: 7672)
Signed and dated
Watercolour
8 ½ x 13 ¼ in. (22 x 34 cm)
Tags: John Edgar Platt watercolour architecture maritime war World War II Paintings by British Artists
Exhibited: WW2 - War Pictures by British Artists, Morley College London, 28 October -23 November 2016, cat 14.
Literature: WW2 - War Pictures by British Artists, Edited by Sacha Llewellyn & Paul Liss, July 2016, cat 14, page 51.
The convoy system had been introduced during the First World War and proved that ships sailing in organised groups were much less likely to be sunk.
During the Great War the main threat came from U-Boats but in the Second World War German battle cruisers found rich pickings among undefended convoys. The answer to this problem was an escort by Royal Navy warships.
Platt’s watercolour shows a convoy arriving safely at Falmouth, passing between St. Anthony’s Lighthouse and Pendennis Castle. The convoy is flying kite balloons to discourage attacks by dive bombers. Bringing up the rear is a Hunt Type 1 Class escort destroyer painted with dazzle camouflage.
This is a study for an oil painting which Platt produced for the WAAC and is now part of the collection of the National Maritime Museum. The WAAC accepted a number of Platt’s paintings of convoys and wartime traffic on the Thames. He is best known as a colour woodblock printmaker.
We are grateful to John Noott of John Noott Galleries and Malcolm Rogers for assistance with the catalogue note.
