Ernest Waldron
West
1904 - 1994
Portrait of Lt Francis, (Frank) Hemsley Smith, MC 1918 -1940
Portrait of Lt Frank Smith
inscribed on the reverse " Later Killed- A Study for Dunkirk"
pencil on paper laid down on board
101.6 x 76.20 cm. (40 x 30in.)
Notes
The drawing is a study for the original painting which currently hangs in the Worcester regimental museum building. It was presented to the Worcester Artillery regiment in 1940 by Major T.E Averill a local to Worcester and president of the Dunkirk Veterans Association. The painting is dated 1940 and shows the same subject seated above the cliffs of Dover in the same pose with distant plumes of smoke coming from across the Channel. Lt Francis (Frank Smith) recived his MC 1 month after D-Day, he died from an infected wound and is buried in Lille.