Study for 'Take Off': Stirling Bomber Cockpit by Dame Laura Knight, charcoal and watercolour on paper

This detailed study represents the interior of a Stirling Bomber aircraft. It is one of many preparatory works, drawn on large sheets of paper, which Dame Laura Knight made for the painting ‘Take Off’ (1943, Imperial War Museums).

Based at RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk, with No. 15 Squadron, Knight made numerous studies of the aircraft and crew. Although for the finished painting she emphasised the young airmen, to suggest their vulnerability while embarking on a mission, her detailed scrutiny of the cockpit's levers and mechanisms served to amplify the intensity of the confined, close quarters in which the crew operated. Knight's commission from the War Artists' Advisory Committee (WAAC) afforded her the opportunity to depict airmen at work and the machinery of war - the Stirling aircraft - when such subjects were largely the preserve of male artists. By contrast, women war artists were expected to depict 'women's work' and experiences. After undertaking various short-term commissions which celebrated the activities and achievements of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, 'Take Off’ marked a turning point for Knight, expanding her wartime repertoire. Rivaling the works of her male artist peers, 'Take Off' became the definitive Second World War painting of RAF Bomber Command. Bequest of the artist, 1974. Copyright: the artist’s estate and Bridgeman Images / RAF Museum.