Studies for 'Take Off': Pilot (recto); Navigator's Map and Equipment (verso) by Dame Laura Knight, charcoal on paper

Knight made these charcoal studies for her painting 'Take Off' (1943, Imperial War Museums), which represents a Stirling bomber crew preparing for flight. Based at RAF Mildenhall with No. 15 Squadron, Knight, who did not accompany the crew in flight, posed the men as if they were about to embark on a raid over Germany.

Commissioned by the War Artists’ Advisory Committee (WAAC) for the Ministry of Information, 'Take Off' was arguably a propagandist vision of Bomber Command, to encourage positive publicity and recruitment. Rather than focusing primarily on the aircraft and operations, but on the crew as serious and dedicated young men, the painting hints at their vulnerability, conveying a disarmingly personal, rather than strategic, perspective to make the scene relatable. On the recto side of the paper is a drawing of one of the two pilots and on the verso is a study of the flight navigator's map, pencils and navigation computer. The pilots were Flight Lieutenant Derek Arthur Stuart-White and Flying Officer Kenneth John Bettles, who both survived the war and saw later service. The navigator in the painting was posed by 20-year-old Flight Sergeant Raymond Frankish Escreet who was, in fact, a wireless operator and air gunner with the squadron. After his promotion to Flight Lieutenant in March 1945 while serving with 161 Squadron, Escreet's Hudson Bomber aircraft was shot down, killing him and the rest of the crew except the pilot (Flight Lieutenant Terence Helfer, who bailed out). This commission marked a turning-point for Knight who had, for the majority of the war, been tasked with representing mostly women's wartime service. 'Take Off' afforded her the first opportunity to represent a male air crew at work when few women artists were commissioned to represent servicemen. Depicting the crew in an aircraft, Knight ambitiously brought the subject of Bomber Command to life in a picture which arguably went further than many by her male peers who mostly painted single portraits. Bequest of the artist, 1974. Copyright: the artist’s estate and Bridgeman Images / RAF Museum.