In April 2019, I was commissioned by Cumbria’s Museum of Military Life at Carlisle Castle to paint a work to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the King’s Own Royal Regiment. The intention was that the emphasis should be on how the soldiers themselves remembered their time in the regiment, rather than simply a history of deployments and actions etc.
To that end, I spent two days at the beginning of May as Artist in Residence at the annual veterans’ weekend, talking to the men and their wives about their experiences. I also had access to the regiment’s photographic records.
Incorporating multiple small images into a whole is always a challenge. After some experimentation, I came up with the idea of using the red diamond cap badge and extending lines out to form a whole series of diamonds and triangles which could form the compositional structure. Within that there are other groupings. In the top left hand corner is the official parade when the new regiment received its colours. Diagonally opposite at the bottom right hand side is the parade which marched to the cathedral at the end of the 2019 reunion. The largest diamond has soldiers in the various uniforms worn during the 60 years, the principal character wearing the one worn during their many tours of active duty in Northern Ireland.
Above and below that are images of the assault course training all had memories of, and around that diamond some other active duty tours – in Aden, the Falklands and Iraq. In the bottom left hand corner are images of training exercises and sports activities. In the top right hand corner social activities and everyday events like meal times. adjacent to the right hand side of the cap badge are some of the vehicles the regiment used – including a ‘Green Goddess’ fire engine when they were drafted in for cover during a fire fighters’ strike. Below that is a perennially favourite activity – having a pint in the NAAFI after a hard day’s training.
At the bottom right hand edge is a pair of crossed swords. These are the Wilkinson Swords of Peace (a slightly incongruous concept I always thought…). These were an award given to units of the British Armed Forces for activities above and beyond the unit’s normal role that improve relations with the community. The K.O.R.B.R. was the only regiment ever to win two – once for their work in Northern Ireland and one for their tour in Bosnia.
The finished painting formed an important part of the 60th anniversary exhibition at the museum in September 2019.