Rear Gunner (Pilot Officer Percy Arthur Dalton) by Jacob Kramer, lithograph

Jacob Kramer made this portrait when his Leeds friend Percy Dalton joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve. Following his promotion to Flight Lieutenant, Dalton died when his Wellington bomber was shot down over France in 1942.

Ukrainian-born Kramer settled in Leeds as a child, in the early 1900s. His Jewish family had fled from the Russian Empire’s anti-Semitic violence at a time of suppressed civil liberties following the assassination of Tsar Alexander II. Kramer served in France during the First World War, before studying at the Slade School of Fine Art (alongside David Bomberg), and teaching at Leeds School of Art during the Second World War. He was known for his modern linear style, although avoided aligning his work with particular artistic movements of the day. Purchased in 1975. Copyright: Estate of John David Roberts, by permission of the Treasury Solicitor / RAF Museum.