The Battle of Britain

The Hardest Day - August 18th 1940

Inevitably working as an archivist, managing all genres of collections, it’s fairly common to locate many traces originating from the Second World War period. Propaganda leaflets, proposed invasion plans, appeals for emergency temporary housing for those individuals bombed out. Stories such as sharing air raid shelters with smelly Rugby players who just finished a game but had not showered. These small details evidence the very human experience of this frankly insane time.

Unlike conflicts before, events were captured using multi-medias. Films, photographs, written or radio accounts. An enormous scale of evidence helps us preserve the historical memory of the war period. The authentic human perspective / experience of the war. How though do you living in the 21st century experience this evidence? Do you watch blockbuster movies or TV dramas, read history books or journey to preserved heritage sites? Is your experience or knowledge limited to just knowing who “won”? 

The History of the Second World War podcast is a comprehensive methodical account of the many conflicts. Ranging from politics, biographies, stories to literally hour upon hour accounts of daily events. Published and produced by Ray Harris Jr, he recently contacted me to ask if I were to make an artwork about the Second World War, what type of art would that be? What kind of art could summarize a war 80 years past?

Cross referencing knowledge obtained via the podcast with the Imperial War Museum archive catalogue, I produced simple line drawings of the Blitz canteen service. Interested in the emergency feeding of peoples who lost their homes. But this conflict was fast and brutal, reflected in the multiple record types held within archives. Frankly my line drawings were exceptionally dull. 

Ray’s podcast described the Battle of Britain in a way you could almost picture a world opening before you. My experience of the battle was through his research and voice on the broadcast. As well as the many records available online at the IWM. This battle was exceptionally fast, involving the most advanced machines of their day. A photographic image showing flying Spitfires or Hurricanes have this slight blur or invisible lines that imply flight, certainly not just a fixed moment in time. 

The collage drawing references (and starts from) my authentic experience listening to Ray. Transcribing a podcast episode, specifically The Hardest Day. The text eventually represented these motion lines I could see within the photographs. Applying charcoal like marks within the collaged aircraft, I created an illusion of dramatic movement that represents a moment within the battle. The final artwork is the digital documentation of the paper-based composition. This documentation of the art is perhaps more authentic to how audiences witness this historic conflict via preserved records.