Ditching practice in tank, Nassau

Depicts training in 'ditching' (forced landing in water) is carried out in a large tank of water. The crew, clad in swimming suits, are seated in a stripped fuselage of a Mitchell bomber which runs down a ramp into the water. The crew are trained in the proper method to leave the aircraft after 'ditching'. This crew is situated at the No. 111 Operational Training Unit, Nassau, Bahamas as part of the Empire Air Training Scheme. Ralph Malcolm Warner (1902-1966) was appointed Official War Artist in 1943, covering the activities of the RAAF in Canada, United States and the Bahamas. His first mission was in Papua New Guinea recording Australian operation against the Japanese. In 1945 Warner continued to work as a war artist recording civil and industrial war efforts and food production in areas of New South Wales and Victoria. After the war he returned to commercial art, designing posters, murals and postage stamps and illustrating books.