The Raid on the Bruneval Radio Location Station, 27-28 February 1942

Oil on canvas
76.2 x 101.9 cm

More details...

Recto: Signed and dated lower left: R Eurich 1942

Aka: The Raid on the Bruneval Radio Location Station, 27-28 February 1942 [IWM]; Raid on Bruneval [RE sales diary]

Bruneval France Normandy IWM Imperial War Museum WW2 WWII World War 2 World War II army attack building cliffs hill landing landing craft motorboats nightime parachutes paratroops public collection sea searchlight troops war war artist wartime

This dramatic painting describes a daring but successful night-time raid by parachutists and commando boats to obtain radar equipment from a cliff-top site. Using detailed reconnaissance photographs and eye-witness accounts Eurich heightened the narrative drama by making the various incidents in the raid appear to happen at the same time. In reality the parachute descent happened at least thirty minutes before the motorboats, waiting in fact well off-shore to avoid detection, were called to come in and take the raiders off.

Nicholas Usherwood from ‘The Edge of All the Land’ 1994

Provenance:

COMMISSIONED - 1943 - by the Admiralty / War Artists' Advisory Committee
GIFTED - 1947 - Imperial War Museum, London
by the War Artists' Advisory Committee; accession number IWM ART LD 3475

Exhibitions:

26th Sep 1991 to 12th Jan 1992 - "Richard Eurich - From Dunkirk to D-Day", Imperial War Museum, London, UK
Cat 23
28th Jan to 13th Mar 1994 - "The Edge of all the Land: Richard Eurich 1903-1992", Southampton City Art Gallery, Southampton (toured to Manchester, Bradford, Ipswich)
Cat 32

Notes:

None recorded.

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References:

Art UK [artuk.org]
Illustrated London News [date unknown]
Imperial War Museum [link]
Art UK Curations 1 [Themed groups of works selected from the Art UK online catalogue by art professionals and members of the public.] [Artists and places: Official Artists of the Second World War, part 1 | curated by David Saywell, Head of Digital Assets, Art UK]
Art UK Curations 3 [Themed groups of works selected from the Art UK online catalogue by art professionals and members of the public.] [Artists and wartime places: Richard Eurich | curated by David Saywell, Head of Digital Assets, Art UK]
Art UK Curations 2 [Themed groups of works selected from the Art UK online catalogue by art professionals and members of the public.] [A Year through Art: February | curated by David Saywell, Head of Digital Assets, Art UK]