Picture from the operations room at RAF Watnall

 A most wonderful object has surfaced recently relating to the underground control room at RAF Watnall.A painting for the purpose of aircraft recognition by the celebrated marine artist, Harold Wyllie M.B.E Supplied to the intelligence office, No 12 Group, RAF, this picture hung in the control room at Watnall, 1941 - 1945, or possibly even till 1946 when the group HQ was moved to RAF Newton. 

Harold Wyllie, son of the famous artist of the same name, was mostly a painter of marine images, sail ships, Napoleonic battle scenes, etc. Born in London in 1898, he served as a pilot with the Royal Flying Corps during WW1, was a founding member of the Royal Society of Marine Artist, and its vice-president in 1858, and was the Honourable Marine Painter to the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes, 1934 - 1946. His numerous works of  Naval art are displayed in galleries and collections around the world. 

Believed to be his only work relating to German Aircraft, it is unknown how this piece came about. It may be that in the early stages of the war, the RAF requested colour imagery of German aircraft with the view of having better detailed recognition posters printed for RAF / Observer Corps usage, and therefore spoke to known Artists with a service background who painted items of a military, in his case, Naval theme. It may be, as a patriotic act to help the war effort the best way he knew how, Harold chose to paint these recognition images,based on available black and white photographs, and submitted it to the RAF himself. 

The painting consists of nine colour images of the German Heinkel He111, perhaps the most famous bomber used by the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain. The bomber is shown in colour camouflage at various angles, all of which would be of use to RAF intelligence and the Royal Observer Corps. Written to the top right hand corner, "H.E. 111 K" and below that, "Intelligence office no 12 group R.A.F.'' How or why this artwork was sent up to Watnall is another mystery.  Possibly during the very early days of the war, there was little else in the way of German aircraft recognition material, and this sample artwork was one of a few pieces available to send to 12 Group. Possibly it was sent to the 12 Group headquarters in Hucknall, and then along with all the equipment and staff, moved to the new operations room in Watnall late1940. Written lower down on the artwork, below the images of the bomber, "for advanced training in recognition of aircraft" - "underside of aircraft above horizon" - "upper side of aircraft below horizon"

This piece was recently discovered by a military antiques dealer in an antique shop in Bournemouth. A recently added label to the back stating, "PAINTING OF A GERMAN BOMBER, USED TO HANG IN 12 GROUP OPS ROOM 1941 - 1945 WATNAL NOTTS" It is thought that someone serving at the Ops Room in Watnall took the artwork home as a souvenir when the Ops Room was shut down and moved to RAF Newton. This person later having it framed, possibly retired to the south coast, on passing their family members selling this amongst other possessions onwards, this item making its way to a local Antiques shop. On selling the painting to the Antiques shop, the family member passed on the information of what they had always been told by their late relative, the Antiques shop owner then writing it down and sticking it to the back of the frame for future interest. 

So, is this unique piece of RAF Watnall history genuine? No one is more sceptical about rare pieces of military history than myself. So, what evidence is there to believe this item is exactly as stated?  The artwork has been examined by a specialist in vintage paintings and stated that the paper used is the correct type for watercolours, and that the images are indeed paintings. The autograph of Harold Wyllie corresponds to other known examples. It is well known that the underground operations room at Watnall was damp. There are areas of condensation staining to the white of the paper. All of the script is written in black ink. As is common with ink of the period, over time, the iron in the ink causes the script to turn brown through oxidation as we see here, a process that would be accelerated by damp conditions. Also of interest to point to the early 1940's is the use of " HE111K" The Heinkel He 111 came in many different versions from the mid 1930's till the end of production. 111K is not really a known variant, but for some reason, the British and the RAF preferred to use this term, and it can be seen on other wartime publications, but not in post-war years, and not by the Luftwaffe. The information sticker on the back. This very much seems to have been added by someone who did not want the interesting background of the picture to be lost, while at the same time not really knowing much about it. Note that this person, unfamiliar with Watnall, wrote it with one "l". Perhaps the most telling piece of evidence, If someone had managed to acquire the picture, and original set of paintings by Harold Wyllie, and signed by him, and then added the script, and somehow managed to get the ink to fade to brown, in a sped up process that did not damage the paintings,, then why choose 12 Group ? If the same information were added, except for writing 11 instead of 12, that would have placed the piece at RAF Uxbridge instead of RAF Watnall, thus making it worth thousands instead of hundreds. There is no other plausible alternative to the story on the sticker. During the war, material used for the purpose of military identication of aircraft was classed as restricted. This piece is marked for the intelligence office of 12 Group, which was at RAF Watnall. It makes perfect sense that a piece of restricted material would hang in the most restricted place at RAF Watnall - the control room.

Images below, the frame 51 by 38 cm. 

Also, for those interested in the German He 111 bomber, the picture with pieces of He 111, resting on a wing main access panel with the pilots right side rudder peddle, the very front of the front dome with ball mount for the MG, and a mounting for the side mounted MG.