Rear Gun Turret and Tail of a Wellington Bomber by Eric Kennington, pastel and chalk on paper

This is one of many pastel drawings Eric Kennington made for his full-time commission as the Air Ministry’s Official War Artist from 1940–1942.

One of the first artists recruited by the War Artists’ Advisory Committee (WAAC), Kennington was briefed to draw portraits of service personnel for the Air Ministry. When he was repeatedly asked by the WAAC to diversify and represent wider subjects of RAF life, he refused, remaining devoted to heroic portraiture. Nevertheless, this drawing of a Wellington bomber – operational in night raids until 1943 – was made in response to the request. It is a rare exception to his focus on portraiture. From the Air Ministry allocation of works from the War Artists' Advisory Committee, 1947. Original accession number: LD741. On loan from the RAF Air Historical Branch (MOD). Copyright: Crown (expired) / RAF Museum.