TEESSIDE-born artist Joe Cole’s war drawings will be the subject of a talk this week as part of Local History Month.
The drawings, part of an exhibition at the Dorman Museum named Road to the Front: Joe Cole’s Experience of War, were completed by Cole during the turbulent years of the Second World War, with almost half drawn between June 6 and early July, 1944 during the Normandy Campaign.
A member of 3206 RAF Servicing Commando Unit, Cole and his comrades lived almost nomadically, sleeping in tents and often ordered to relocate at short notice to anywhere they were needed in order to establish airstrips for allied aircraft in Europe.
On D-Day, June 6, 1944, the unit landed as part of the second wave of landings near Arromanches on Gold Beach and later continued through northern France, Belgium, Holland and Germany, during which time Cole felt compelled to record the arresting scenes of suffering he witnessed.
The result is more than 40 unofficial war drawings which will be brought to life in a talk by Phil Philo, Senior Curator at the Dorman Museum, with excerpts from Cole’s war diary and poetry.
The drawings are on loan from the collection of Kirkleatham Old Hall Museum, Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council.
Phil said: “With 2015 being the 70th anniversary of VE Day and the liberation of Bergen-Belsen camp, we felt it was important that our exhibition programme this year reflected that.
“The talk on Joe Cole is a great chance to learn more about a talented local artist, and as many of his works were confiscated by military authorities at the time, we are exceptionally lucky to have such a large number on display to the public here.”
- The talk will take place at 2pm on Friday, May 22, at the Dorman Museum, and is free to attend.
Road to the Front: Joe Cole’s Experience of War runs until Sunday, June 28 and is accompanied by a fully illustrated booklet, available from the Museum Shop.
For more information, call the Dorman Museum on 01642 813781.