Westbury artist paints unveils portrait of WWII airman

A WESTBURY artist has completed a portrait of  Kenneth Chapman from Westbury, who died on board a Lancaster plane in 1944.

Helen Chester read about Kenneth’s story in the Western Daily Press after an appeal was launched by the Ministry of Defence to trace family of the crew of Lancaster JB640 which was lost during a bombing raid.

Helen came across Kenneth’s story after her father showed her a story in the newspaper about the appeal. Her grandfather had lived next door to Kenneth and her father remembers being told about him being missing in action.

Helen told the White Horse News about the portrait and why she was inspired to paint him. She explains, “The painting shows an accurate depiction of Kenneth, However like my other portraits, I aim to also tell the story of the subject.

“Kenneth was in a Lancaster Bomber on a Pathfinder Force mission, so an image of the plane has been included in the background and down either side of the work are decorative elements taken from the Laverton building.

“I have been speaking to a member of Kenneth’s family, Alison Calderan, whose mother was Kenneth’s cousin. She had lived next door to Kenneth and were not born too far apart, so they grew up almost like twins. The story goes that even up until just before she died last year, she still insisted that he wasn’t dead only missing. This is such a moving part of the story that I felt I had to record their relationship, so there is a vignette showing them together as children and also of his cousin as an adult in the background to commemorate her never giving up hope.

“Finally I have included the RAF cap badge which has been gilded.

“Over the course of the First World War centenary commemoration I have been working on and exhibiting my series of portraits entitled, The Everyday Tommy, showing men and women from Westbury and the surrounding area whose lives were taken and changed forever by the events of the Great War.

“It has been fascinating speaking to the families and telling their stories, so when I found out about Kenneth’s story, even though it was from World War Two, the fact that he was from Westbury and we had a family connection I  felt it was part of Westbury history that I had to capture and commemorate.”

Kenneth Chapman’s nephew, Ken Davis who lives in Westbury, attended a special service in Berlin in April to see Kenneth’s final resting place rededicated. He said, “I didn’t know the painting had been done until my cousin told me. It’s great and a very good likeness to Kenneth. Helen has said she will make a copy for me so now I need to find somewhere to hang it.”

Helen also recently completed a large scale commission for Aldershot Garrison’s Somme commemorations, which included all fifty-three men from Aldershot who were killed at the Battle of the Somme. This will be unveiled on 6th November to coincide with the centenary of the last day of the battle.

She has just started work on a series of new portraits focusing on ex-service personnel who are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), to tell their stories and hopefully help raise awareness of the mental health condition.