Two Westland Wildcats' flying low to avoid radar detection. The painting proudly hangs in the entrance hall to the Army Air Corps HQ, Middle Wallop
'Tak' DCM with the original painting of the Battle of Mirbat.
The Battle of Mirbat. Dhofar, Oman. 19th July 1972. 9 SAS soldiers came under attack by a force of up to 400 communist enemy (Adoo). I had to go down to Hereford to talk to the survivors of the battle. It was important for each of us to get the finished painting as accurate as possible. In the end, thankfully, all of the SAS men said the picture was indeed totally accurate. The only 'artistic licence' I used was reducing the amount of smoke on that day. The prints carried the signatures of six of the survivors of that day. Awards were a DSO, a DCM and two MM's.
A Household Cavalry trooper on guard in Whitehall, near Downing Street, London.
Chiefs of Staff with their AMA's (behind) marching down the Mall during King Charles III Coronation. 2023.
King Charles III Coronation proceeding down the Mall to Buckingham Palace, as seen from the former Admiralty Arch. 6 May, 2023.
The funeral cortege of Queen Elizabeth II proceeding from Whitehall through to Horse Guards parade ground. September 2022.
Queen Elizabeth II pallbearers. Grenadier Guards.
Trooping the Colour Horse Guards Parade. Irish Guards.
The Royal Hospital Hospital, Chelsea. I spent a wonderful two weeks painting this majestic view. I set up under the leaves of huge oak trees and was delighted that six 'in pensioners' (Chelsea pensioners) posed for me. The original painting hangs in Sir Christopher Wren's magnificent building.
Four Chelsea Pensioners pose next to my finished painting. The tall 'Pensioner' on the left amazingly knew my Grandfather, they were in the same regiment, but in different Battalions during WWII. Their Battalions (4th /5th Dorsets) fighting from Normandy to Arnhem, Netherlands. My grandfather's name was Tilly, and in the advance through France his Battalion after very heavy fighting, liberated the town of Tilly.
Reg Seekings DCM MM. One of the 'originals' 'L' Detachment founder members of the SAS in WWII. Reg and I became good friends, and the wartime stories he used to tell me of his time with the Regiment from North Africa, Italy to Northern Europe were amazing.
Johhny Cooper MBE DCM signing my 'L' Detachment print. Original member of the wartime SAS.
'L' Detachment print. signed by J Cooper and R Seekings.
A collage of badges accrued from my Afghan tours as war artist on Op Herricks 11, 15, 17, 18 (Helmand/Kandahar) and Op Toral 3.(Kabul).
Gurkha piper. Original painting hangs in Normandy Barracks, Aldershot.
3RGR, Queen's Gurkha truncheon. Attestation parade.
Gurkha soldier. Op Toral 3, Kabul, Afghanistan.
Four senior NCO's, from the left: Regimental Sgt Major(WOI), Sgt Major (WOII), Colour Sgt, Sgt. Painting hangs in the WO's and Sgt's Mess, 2RGR. (painting posed for me in Kabul 2016).
Up in the hills above Kabul, Afghanistan.
Painting above Kabul next to the building Ahmed Shah Massoud (the Lion of Panshir) planned his attacks on the Taliban.
2 Royal Gurkha Rifles on Op Toral 3. 2016.
Painting in PB Attal at 48.9 C. Wearing my invaluable 'Mussar' worn by the Omani Armed Forces; I have three of these excellent hot weather head dress.
Pilot of IX (B) Sqn RAF. Kandahar Province.
IX (B) Sqn. Tornado GR4. KAF.
Westland Lynx. Flight line, Camp Bastion.
A pilot washing down his Lynx. Camp Bastion. 2012.
63 Works Group. Royal Engineers. Camp Bastion. Op Herrick 11. 2010.
A Chinook arriving into Patrol Base(PB) Attal. Lashkar Gah. painted 'en plein air'.
A 105mm Light Field gun. Royal Artillery. PB Attal.
Op Moshtarak. 13 Feb 2010. The BBC gave me a camera for my trip to Helmand and this was the first event I filmed. A spectacular array of helicopters taking off and landing and the 1 Royal Welsh battle group enplaning onto Chinooks for three hours was a visual extravaganza. 10,000 US Marines were doing the same next door in Camp Leatherneck, taking the war to the Taliban in Marja, Nad Ali and Babaji.
A joint ANA and ISAF operation in Helmand on Herrick 17.
Pen&Ink of soldiers from 2 Scots.
Small oil sketch on canvas board of a patrol with 2Rifles, Boxing Day 2012, Nahr e Saraj, Neb canal, Helmand province.
A shura just outside Qala-e-Bost Citadel, south of Lashkar Gah with the Queen's Royal Hussars. 2012.
An 'ad hoc' DIY sign-post in Lashkar Gah HQ. Painted 'en plein air', oil on canvas board.
Foot patrol near PB Ouellette.
105mm Light field gun. PB Ouellette. Oil on canvas paper; 'en plein air'.
Arriving into MOB Price with the Danish Army. This is called 'contre jour'.......against the daylight.
Lashkar Gah street scene.
Lashkar Gah street scene............with donkey!!
The Danish Army in Gereshk police HQ, Helmand.
Bost Citadel. Built 500-600BC. Used by Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan (1220) and Tamerlane in1383. Oil on board.
A scene I saw from my 'sanger' (art studio) in Lashkar Gah. The camel herder, at a very slow pace, walked through the middle of a football match and the game continued as if the herder and camels didn't even exist, they just played on around them.
2 Scots piper practising in Lashkar Gah HQ.
2Scots out on foot patrol near PB Ouellette, on the road which leads to Pan Kalay and Sangin. Op Herrick 18, June 2013. This 24"X60" painting is in the collection of the National Army Museum, London.
Typical Afghan entertaining, yet chaotic road scene. It always made me smile at the absurdity of road usage and the state of the lorries. I once saw a family of five on a single motor bike.
Afghan National Police (ANP).
A small pen&ink sketch of two Afghans' I did in a shura with the QRH's.
Brydon Lines. My first accommodation on my first tour with the RAMC. The Role 3 Hospital at camp Bastion. Joint Force Med Grp..
Inside the operating theatre in the JFMG Camp Bastion hospital.
HLS Nightingale in Camp Bastion hospital. A casualty is being transferred by ambulance to the entrance of the Emergency Department. I painted this scene over two days, sitting to the side of the parked ambulances.
MERT. (Medical Emergency Response Team). These excellent medics posed for me on the flight line at Camp Bastion.
Trying to look cool, calm and collected in the 48.8C stifling heat........and NOT succeeding. Out on patrol with 2 Scots.
MERT.
Chinook (C130) landing at PB Attal. Painted 'en plein air'. I taped the canvas to the side of a Mastiff (large Army transport vehicle).
I took over this abandoned look-out sanger, and turned it into my art studio/gallery. I was visited all week long by curious soldiers who were really there not to look at my art, but stayed just to look out on the everyday life of the coming and goings of Lashkar Gah below.
My favourite Patrol Base(PB): Musa Qaleh. A market every Saturday has thousands cross the wadi. I used to sit on the roof of the HQ and look out on the scene, which I also used to do at night through the sentry's night vision goggles. This is always more interesting as the locals think they're not seen far out in the wadi and the stars are wonderfully fabulous too. Scenes not changed for a thousand or more years. I painted this to include a hidden meaning within the scene in front of me.
Musa Qaleh. A Merlin approaching the HLS. I painted this from the top of a sangar up on the hill. The Merlin I painted at home later.
Musa Qaleh. 101 Log Brigade asked me to paint a very large picture of this PB which had to include every department in the Brigade; so the medics, postal services, dogs, Civvy and military police, Transport vehicles, MERT, fork-lifts, REME etc.....all went in. It was hard work but a joy to paint and now hangs in 101 Log Brg's HQ in Aldershot.
This is the sketch I did on the roof of the Household Cavalry HQ, as a 'prep' for the large finished painting I would work on back home.
With Brig Shirrin Shah, ANA and the Task Force Helmand Commander Brigadier Patrick Sanders. Now Sir Patrick, Chief of the General Staff and a wonderful host who included me in so much of the everyday life of 20 Armoured Brigade's operation tour in Helmand Province.
The HLS in Lashkar Gah. The painted badges were the subsequent Brigades' that rotated here for their Op Herrick tour. One can see that the Paras and Marines were here for three tours each.
2 Scots. They kindly posed for me after our foot patrol in Lashkar Gah. Safely inside the camp I lay on the ground and asked them to walk past me (twice) as I took photos. This painting hangs in front of me as I paint every day. Thanks fellas' I owe you all an Iron Bru.
Sketching on the roof of the Household Cavalry's Musa Qaleh HQ. Op Herrick 11.
The Cenotaph, Whitehall, London.