THE 70th Exhibition of the Armed Forces Art Society will open in the Mall Galleries, London, on July 6. Some 400 paintings by artists with an Armed Forces background, including Ken Howard, Michael Noakes, Paul Banning, David Shepherd and Richard Plincke, and sculpture by Vivien Mallock will be on view. Evolved from the Army Officers’ Art Society founded in 1925, the society aims to encourage art in the three Services and among former members, and to demonstrate that the profession of arms and participation in the arts are compatible.
A glance at the records shows that membership has always included famous names from the Services and the world of art — the common bond being a period in uniform, often during wartime. The members are elected from the associate membership who have shown a consistently high standard of work.
In line with recent years, it is anticipated that almost 40 per cent of the exhibits will be by women members of the Services or the spouses of serving or retired sailors, soldiers and airmen. Together with works from currently serving members, these promise a truly eclectic range of subjects.
The sculpture illustrated is Martina by Craig Halliday, who served in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, 1988-99, and the painting Beached Boat, Oman is by Alix Baker, the society’s chairman since 2002.
The society’s patron, the Prince of Wales, will be supporting the exhibition and the private view (by invitation only) on the evening of July 6 will be opened by the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Sir Michael Walker.
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The Thales plc prize, the National Army Museum prize and the Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers prize will each be open to exhibitors.
Although service life is less conducive to painting and sculpting than many professions, the society offers a chance to exhibit alongside both professional and talented amateur artists in one of the best galleries in the country. The exhibition is therefore an opportunity for visitors to see a wide range of techniques and media and acquire fine works of art at affordable prices.
There will also be a showcase of sketchbooks and diaries on loan by the son and daughter of the late Alan O’Connor-Fenton, a well-known past exhibitor. These items were executed during his time as a prisoner of war in Italy and Germany and demonstrate the importance of art to someone living in such circumstances. In addition, there will be a small display of works by clients of Combat Stress, the Ex-Services Mental Welfare Society.
Controversial works are rare although, in 1938, a full-length portrait of a nude Jamaican girl harvesting cotton, by Major J. B. Arbuthnot, was defaced. Major Arbuthnot said: “I saw a girl standing on a chair defacing the top and bottom of the canvas. She appeared to have had too much to drink. I bundled her out of the gallery and told her to go home.”
During the exhibition there will be two evening receptions for service charities. The Royal British Legion will be holding one of its D-Day anniversary events and the SSAFA will be holding a fundraising reception.
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The entrance to the exhibition, which is sponsored by Thales plc, is on the Mall 200 yards from Admiralty Arch. The nearest Underground station is Charing Cross. Entrance is free and opening times will be 10am to 5pm Tuesday July 6 to Saturday July 10, and 10am to 1pm on Sunday July 11. Entrance is free. Information, visit www.afas.org.uk
Mahratta Light Infantry reunion
The 55th and final reunion of the British officers of the regiment raised in 1768, and known in the time of the Raj as the 5th Mahratta Light Infantry, will be held at the Bombay Brasserie, London SW7, on June 17. Six battalions of the regiment fought in Mesopotamia — today’s Iraq — during the First World War and in North Africa, Italy and Burma in the Second.
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Following the Partition of India in 1947 the British officers left, but they have been invited to the Regimental Centre in Belgaum, Karnataka, every fourth year and Indian members of the present-day regiment have regularly attended reunions in London.
Because of the age and dwindling numbers of former British officers, it has been decided that this will be their final reunion. The Colonel of the Regiment, Lieutenant-General Joginder Jaswant Singh, GOC of India’s Western Command, will travel to London to attend, together with two previous colonels and four other retired Indian general officers.
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New memorial to Polish soldiers in Britain
An estimated 100,000 Polish soldiers, sailors and airmen who fought with the Western Allies in the Second World War found a home in this country when unable to return to Soviet-dominated Poland in 1945. They were not the first to settle here. One hundred and eleven years earlier, a group of 211 Polish officers, NCOs and men, and the wife of one officer, docked in Portsmouth on their way to the United States. They were a handful of the survivors of the Polish uprising against Ts arist Russian rule in November 1830, who escaped to Prussia and were interned.
The Prussian authorities freed them on the understanding that they would emigrate to the United States, but on reaching Portsmouth they decided to go no farther. They felt that they would be closer to the Polish expatriates in Paris and so keep alive their hopes of returning to Poland. Virtually all lived out their lives in Britain, however, and many lie in Kingston Cemetery, Portsmouth. At 1.30pm on June 27, a later generation of Polish soldiers will unveil a monument to their memory.
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Many of the group married English girls and changed or anglicised their names. Anyone believing themselves a descendant of the original group, or who may wish to attend the unveiling ceremony, should write to Otton Hulacki, 18 Coppins Bridge, Newport I.O.W, PO30, 2BX.