Ian Sanders - Wartime Experiences of Alan Sorrell, a War Artist

Over 100 members of Diss U3A met at the URC on Thursday 6th April to hear Ian Sanders talk about his father-in-law, Alan Sorrell, a war artist. Ian was accompanied by his wife Julia, and they brought a number of books and prints illustrating the artist’s work.

Alan Sorrell (1904-74) was an English artist and writer best remembered for his archaeological illustrations, particularly his detailed reconstructions of Roman Britain.

Less well known is his work as a war artist and his secret work for the RAF terrain model-making unit and in airfield , all of which influenced his post-war career.

Before the war Alan had trained for four years at Southend Municipal School of Art (1919-23) then worked in the City for a year as a commercial designer. He then went to the , where he won the Prix de Rome in mural painting and this took him to the British School at Rome for two years. While there he visited Tuscany and copied some particularly beautiful works of art. Returning from Italy he gained a teaching post at the Royal College of Art and earned the nickname Old Angles reflecting his use of straight lines and careful draughtsmanship. He began his archaeological reconstruction drawings after a chance meeting in 1936 with Kathleen Kenyon on a dig of a Roman site in Leicester, who asked him to produce illustrations for an article for The Illustrated London News.

Alan’s wartime career began in 1940 when he joined the RAF, first at the Air Ministry at Adastral House as a camouflage officer, assisting in the siting, planning and camouflaging of aerodromes. A comparison of his pre- and post-War archaeological work would bring out a decided advance in his control of aerial perspective, which surely owed much to this wartime experience.

At some stage in the middle of the war, daylight bombing was no longer a threat, so camouflage was no longer needed and Alan was moved to V-section of RAF Medmenham. This was a top secret unit, the forerunner of RAF Jaric, where aerial reconnaissance photographs were interpreted. V-section was responsible for making models for bombing missions. These usually involved terrain models which were often taken on missions, such as in the famous Dambusters raid. Little was ever said about this work by those who worked in this unit during their lifetime, and so we shall probably never know which particular missions Alan’s models were used for. All he ever said was that he worked on such models, and that he also made models of German battleships. This was quite likely, since the specialism of RAF Medmenham was often loaned out to the other services.

1 However, he was to stage what he referred to as his ‘one man mutiny’ when he was asked to produce models of Italian cities for bombing raids, since he felt that they should not be bombed. This refusal was to have consequences, for he was instead asked to produce a model of the German Battleship, Tirpitz, and sent to Blackpool to gather the information required.

There, Alan met at the local art school Elizabeth Tanner, one of his ex-students from the Royal College. He immediately asked her out, and took her for a ride on the big- dipper. They married in 1947, and have three children, the youngest being Julia, married to the speaker, Ian Sanders.

Alan Sorrell created artworks of air force life in his spare time as well as completing several short-term commissions from the War Artists' Advisory Committee, to depict airfields and runway construction. Some of this work is now in collections at the and at the .

Ian (our speaker) never met Alan himself, as Ian and Julia only met in 1981. Ian is half Italian so felt a strong respect for Alan, who had refused to be involved in the bombing of Italian cities. The family has a website at: http://www.alansorrellarchive.org.uk/ where more information about Alan’s wartime work and his contribution in peace time to the knowledge of sites such as Grimes Graves, and Anglo Saxon Thetford may be found.

The last unfinished painting by Alan Sorrell was “The Assault”. This imaginative piece supports his campaigning for the preservation of trees and woodland particularly in Essex.

After the talk there were questions and a vote of thanks from Lindsey Bilston, the vice chairman. The next meeting will be on May 4th when David Phelan will be talking about Sutton Hoo.

Next meeting of Diss U3A

Thursday 4th May

10.30 am in the United Reformed Church, Diss.

The guest speaker will be David Phelan, whose talk will be about:

Sutton Hoo

Tea and coffee are provided before the talk.

For further information on Diss U3A please visit the website: www.dissu3a.org.uk

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