Vivian Pitchforth

He served in the Wakefield Battery of the Royal Garrison Artillery during World War One, service which left him with lifelong hearing damage.

These works quickly led to Pitchforth being given a salaried position with WAAC in 1940, in which he painted further scenes of bombed buildings, war-time factory production, air raid precaution training exercises, parachutes being packed and RAF operations rooms.

He travelled extensively to complete this commission, working in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester,[7] the south coast of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, as well as sailing on convoys to Gibraltar and the Azores.

[9] At the end of the war Pitchforth developed a lung infection and spent some considerable time convalescing in South Africa before returning to Britain in 1948.

[3] After he returned to Britain Pitchforth resumed a teaching career, holding posts at Chelsea Polytechnic, Camberwell and St. Martins until he retired from the Sir John Cass College of Art in 1974.