Noon by Emile Antoine Verpilleux, oil on canvas

Emile Verpilleux was a British artist who served as a ground wireless officer in the RAF during the First World War. 'Noon' is one of a series of pictures he painted after the War showing the work of the RAF in the air and on the ground.

Coded wireless messages sent from aircraft were used to correct the aim of artillery, and RAF ground wireless operators attached to gun batteries passed instructions from the aircraft to the gunners. The painstaking attention to detail in his paintings provides an accurate pictorial record of many overlooked aspects of RAF history.