Studio RT Ltd

Description

We are offering for sale this evocative and historical aviation oil painting by the artist Donald Graham Chatfield, who has signed the painting in the lower right hand corner and dated it 1979. On the back of the canvas, the artist has written D. G. Chatfield, Sywell April 1979 and "Whitty". The painting depicts a Whitley bomber disgorging a string of parachutists over a flat landscape with a meandering river.

This is one of three paintings by this artist with differing subjects that we are currently listing.

The Armstrong Whitworth S.W.38 Whitley was developed during the mid 1930s. It was named after a suburb of Coventry home of one of Armstrong Whitworth's plants. In 1938, it formally entered RAF service and was used in the first RAF bombing raid upon German territory.

Unlike the Hampden and Wellington, which had met Specification B.9/32 for a day bomber, the Whitley was always intended for night operations alone and thus escaped the early heavy losses received during daylight raids carried out upon German shipping. As the oldest of the three bombers, the Whitley was effectively obsolete by the start of the war, yet over 1,000 more aircraft were produced before a suitable replacement was found. A particular problem with the twin-engine aircraft was that it could not maintain altitude on one engine. Whitleys flew a total of 8,996 operations with Bomber Command, dropped 9,845 tons (8,931 tonnes) of bombs, and 269 aircraft were lost in action.
On the night of 29/30 April 1942, the last operational mission by a Whitley squadron, the bombing of the Port of Ostend in Belgium, was performed by No. 58 Squadron ] In late 1942, the Whitley was retired from front line service however, the type continued to operate as a transport for troops and freight, as well as for paratroop training and towing gliders. In 1940, the Whitley had been selected as the standard paratroop transport in this role, the ventral turret aperture was commonly modified to be used for the egress of paratroopers. No. 100 Group RAF used Whitleys as an airborne platform to carry airborne radar and electronic counter-measures. In February 1942, Whitleys were used to carry the paratroopers who participated in the Bruneval raid, code named Operation Biting, in which German radar technology was captured from a German base on the coast of France.

Donald Graham Chatfield was born on in 1933 in Northampton. He painted in both oils and watercolours and seemed to have specialised in aviation paintings. There are two of these in the National Collection at Chester Town Hill and in the Teignmouth and Shaldon Museum. Both of these paintings are visible online at ArtUK.org.

His auction results are available at the usual sites, but other than this we have been unable to discover further details about his life. He lived in Sywell, Northampton for many years, where he died in 2007.

The painting has been newly framed in a 2 1/2" gilt frame and will be supplied wired and ready to hang.

Image size: 13 5/8" x 9 5/8" - 34.6cm x 24.45cm

Frame size: 18 7/8" x 14 7/8" - 47.95cm x 37.8cm

Medium: Oils on canvas

Condition: Very good. The surface is now clean and taut and there is no craquelure. The frame is new.