PLOTTING THE COURSE - Oil on Board

This artwork represents a poignant moment of camaraderie and pre-flight focus among a six-man World War II Czechoslovak flight crew serving in the Royal Air Force's No. 311 Squadron. Grouped closely together in front of their twin-engine Vickers Wellington Mk.IC bomber, the airmen are depicted studying a navigation map, deep in preparation for an upcoming mission.

The painting captures both the collective bravery and the tragic human cost of the air war. It is a faithful tribute based on a historical photograph of a real crew that was subsequently shot down over the Netherlands in June 1941. By rendering this fleeting, ordinary moment of military life in rich oil paints, the artwork stands as a memorial to the foreign volunteers who left their occupied homelands to fly and fight for the Allied cause.

Original oil on canvas board measuring 30" wide x 20" high.