[Study of Beaufighters and ground crew, Morotai]

Place Asia: Netherlands East Indies, Halmahera Island, Morotai Island
Accession Number ART95027
Collection type Art
Measurement Overall: 46.1 x 60.6 cm
Object type Work on paper
Physical description watercolour, pencil and white gouache on paper
Maker Pidgeon, William Edwin (WEP)
Place made Netherlands East Indies: Halmahera Island, Morotai Island
Date made 1945
Conflict Second World War, 1939-1945
Copyright

Item copyright: AWM Licensed copyright

Description

Depicts Beaufighters planes and ground crew at Morotai in Indonesia during the Second World War. William Edwin Pidgeon ('WEP') (1909-1981) was a painter, cartoonist, illustrator and newspaper critic. In 1926 as a 16 yr old, he became a cadet newspaper artist with the 'Sunday News' and began his professional career working for a number of newspapers. During the Second World War, he became a war correspondant with Consolidated Press, contributing illustrations that were published in the 'Australian Women's Weekly' magazine. His images, with their sardonic humour, richly conveyed the lives and personalities of Australian troops during the Second World War.