Making "Escape at Mailly"

November 12, 2015

ESCAPE AT MAILLY-LE-CAMP

The creation of a picture

At the outset, let me say that this is a shameless plug for the very talented Gary Eason of Flight Artworks, who creates pieces of aviation artwork on commission.

Many of you will know that I attended the unveiling of a memorial in Adnet, Austria, commemorating the crew of a 619 Squadron Lancaster that was shot down in the last days of the war. As part of the commemoration, a recreation of the last moments of F-Freddy was handed over to the town of Adnet.

This picture got me thinking about my friend Bill Viollet, and his amazing story. For those that don't know him, Bill served as a Wireless Operator with 166 Squadron. He was shot down on 3/4 May 1944 on the highly successful – but highly costly – raid on Mailly-le-Camp, part of the Allies' "Transport Plan" that laid the foundations for the Normandy landings later that year.

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FINAL VERSION

Bill's story is one of remarkable courage and initiative. We were fortunate to be able to access his "K Report", which gave details of what happened on that fateful night. Following flak damage, and a suspected night-fighter attack, fires raged through the aircraft, preventing access to the escape hatches. Bill climbed up on the rest bed, and tried to escape through the dinghy hatch.

As he struggled to escape the aircraft, Bill's chest parachute snagged on the rim of the fuselage; flames were now scorching his left arm and head. Suddenly, a string on his harness broke, popping Bill out into the night like a champagne cork.

On the ground, Bill joined the French Resistance, and gave them weapons and wireless training. In August 1944, Bill met up with advancing United States infantry and returned to England, to find discover that his elder brother Bob had been killed in the rear turret of a 49 Squadron Lancaster. He was approached by the French Government in 2014 and awarded the Legion d'Honneur.

My challenge to Gary was to create a piece of artwork that recreated the moment that Bill was expelled from the burning Lancaster. Beneath is a series of photographs that show the evolution of the final piece.

Finally – if you have a particular aviation moment that you wish to recreate, I cannot recommend Gary's services highly enough. His diligence, professionalism and attention to detail are second to none.

CONCEPT SKETCH

Gary began by sending a rough, low-resolution outline of his initial thoughts for discussion, with the following commentary:

"I have drawn on various accounts of the conditions, most obviously Bill's own. The port inner engine fire has gone out but it is smoking (prop feathered). There are fires in the port side of the cockpit and rear fuselage…..the skies were clear and there was good moonlight; (I have a better background of that actual landscape of northern France that I would put in). I have used artistic licence in featuring a generic Ju 88 nightfighter, but would do more research on the likely hunter if you wanted it visible."

In this sketch, an airman can be seen alongside the rear of the fuselage.

My response to Gary was that I had envisaged a piece which centred on Bill in much more detail; in my view, he is the central character in this story, and I have heard of no other veteran who has parachuted to safety in this way. I therefore suggested a front-on aspect of the Lancaster, whilst accepting this would mean that the entire wingspan of the aircraft would not fit. The timing should be a few seconds before the previous one – at the moment Bill was struggling to escape the Lancaster.

SECOND SKETCH

Gary responded with the sketch above, and additional commentary as follows:

"I attach a low resolution sketch of my interpretation of your ideas in the previous feedback. I have manipulated the flight path a bit - they were evading a fighter - so we can see Mailly burning in the background, and the moon (which at 0040 was on a bearing of 221˚ and altitude of 40˚). There's Bill (is there a photo of him at that age?) and the feathered prop and the fires, etc., based on his description".

BILL'S PHOTOGRAPH

I was able to provide Gary with a photograph of Bill in uniform. He used this as the basis for the windswept figure in his picture - showing the dislodged chest parachute, and checking that Bill's account mentioned he had removed his flying helmet.

I'd advised Gary that my preference was to have only the Lancaster in shot; in my mind, Bill is the main object of this artwork. So Gary went away to remove the other aircraft, and to add battle-damage, weathering and other details to the Lancaster; flames and smoke, and lighting effects from the Moon and the fire. The damage added was drawn from Bill's eyewitness report upon his return to England.

He kept a series of screenshots as this work progressed:

DETAILING & FINAL STEPS

In the final version, the burning target at Mailly-le-Camp can be seen, illuminated by fires from the raid and searchlights. The parachutes of some of Bill's comrades can be seen deploying behind the doomed aircraft; sadly, there would be no escape for the Lancaster's gunners, Sergeant Johnny Cockburn and Sergeant Johnny Bodsworth, who were both killed in action.

The remaining crew members, Flt Sgt J A Sanderson (Pilot), Sgt F J Solomon (F/Eng), Sgt R.G. Marks (Nav), Sgt C.Farley (B/Aimer) would become PoWs for the rest of the war.

This article originally appeared as a series of posts on the Project Propeller Facebook page.