Tanks, Artillery, And Art

 Artillery field guns: different wars, different time periods. 

Another kind of firepower, each different, these tanks.

These three in particular. The beaten up looking one in the foreground is a Valentine, made in Canada, most of them shipped to the Soviet Union during the Second World War. This particular one fell through ice during an offensive, and decades later was recovered. The Ukrainian government gave it back to Canada, and its home is here.

Another veteran of World War Two: the Stuart tank, made by Americans and widely used. There was a habit at the time of using the names of generals from the American Civil War- hence the Sherman and the Grant, the Lee and the Stuart.

Lastly, the Panzer II, which saw the bulk of its duties for the German army in the first years of the war.

One more look at Lebreton Gallery.

The long ramp out of the gallery is lined with large canvases of war art. The Taking Of Vimy Ridge, Easter Monday 1917 is a 1919 canvas by Richard Jack depicting the monumental Canadian battle of the First World War.

Canadian Headquarters Staff is a 1918 painting by William Nicholson.

Canadian Foresters in Windsor Park is by Gerald Moira, circa 1917, depicting the 224th Canadian Forestry Battalion.

Another kind of war art that found full expression in the Second World War is the idea of nose cone art. These were sometimes based on humour, sometimes based on sentiment, and sometimes based on women. Several examples are here. Tomorrow we'll wrap this series up.