An Officer from Fiji, 297: Pilot Officer E.L.P. Bradnam by Edith Honor Earl, chalk on paper

Edith Honor Earl made this portrait for her exhibition 'Warriors of the Empire' with the Royal Empire Society, which opened in London's Grosvenor House in December 1944. It is one of 22 portraits by her in the RAF Museum collection (besides others elsewhere) which celebrate the contributions of Service personnel from the British colonies and Commonwealth in the Second World War.

At the time he sat for this portrait, Pilot Officer E.L.P. Bradnam (service number 177633) served as an RAF Air Observer. As an Air Observer, he might have occupied one of various crew officer roles, from navigator, bomb aimer or flight engineer, to air gunner or wireless operator. Described by the Air Ministry as one of 30 volunteers from Fiji who served with the British Armed Forces, Bradnam featured in an Air Ministry photograph in which he was shown receiving training to operate an aerial camera (IWM collection). Cameras were used for reconnaissance and recording aerial and air-to-ground combat. Mounted on aircraft, they were triggered by pilots, air gunners and other crew members as an extension of their primary duties. Earl, who came from a wealthy and influential family, used her influence for philanthropic ends and staged wartime exhibitions of her work in aid of charities. She intended for her large display of 'Warriors of the Empire' portraits to raise awareness of, and foster social cohesion with, the ‘thousands of men and women who came from all over the Commonwealth to help win the war … soldiers, sailors and airmen, representing every part of what was then termed the “Dominions” and “Colonies”’. Earl devoted proceeds of the exhibition to their welfare. Drawing personnel she met in club rooms or had contacted through Services organisations, Earl celebrated the distinctive identities of her sitters' native countries in order to make the British people more aware of the 'enormous debt of gratitude we owed to those splendid people'. To educate others about her sitters' cultural origins, Earl drew small evocative vignettes of landscapes and landmarks in the corners of the portraits. However, untypically, in the corner of Bradnam's portrait, she represented an object rather than a place, a Fijian tabua - a pierced and braided whale's tooth. Taken from the lower jaw of sperm whales found stranded on Fijian beaches, tabuas are presented ceremonially in Pacific Island societies, as gifts of spiritual significance. While sitters' names, ranks and countries were described by the artist, further research requires to be undertaken to shed more light on their biographies and service. The RAF Museum welcomes and encourages the sharing of information which may develop a more detailed record of each sitter. Purchased in 1988. Copyright: the Artist's Estate / RAF Museum.