F
or as long as I can remember,
I’ve always had a fascination
with the Avro Lancaster and
617 Squadron. Probably inspired
by seeing The Dam Busters film at
an early age and certainly by Eric
Coates’ stirring music, most of
my school drawing books had ‘AJ’
coded Lancs in them somewhere!
I’ve retained this passion
throughout my professional
career as an artist and as a resultDark Victor
August 2018 FLYPAST 121have painted dozens of pictures
featuring Lancasters over the
last 30 years. This commission
was particularly special as it
came from a former 617 Squadron
pilot, Flt Lt Don Cheney DFC, who
wanted to portray the moment he
and his crew were shot down in
their aircraft JB139 Dark Victor
over France in August 1944.
The painting was to be presented
to the people of Douarnenezin north-western France who
sheltered the young Canadian
pilot from the Germans, so the
landscape had to be right.
When painting a specific
historical event you need to not
just tell the story visually but also
evoke a sense of atmosphere,
which all paintings need – historic,
generic or otherwise. With this
work, getting the atmosphere right
was the tricky part. With clear blue
skies and minimal cloud on the
day, there was no real light and
shade to play with. Undeterred, I
read and re-read Don’s account
and eventually found what I was
looking for. Don mentioned the
peacefulness after baling out
and the surprising warmth of the
sea when he landed in it. This