'First Blood at Elham', watercolour, 73 x 54 cm.
It is 8 July 1940 and a schwarm of Messerschmitt Bf 109Es from 4/JG51 flying over Kent are attacked by Spitfires of 74 Squadron flying from Hornchurch. No 4 of the formation, flown by 18 year old Lt Johann Böhm, is hit in the engine by one of the Spitfires and then chased at low level through the rolling hills and valleys of Kent by Sgt E Mould who manages to score hits in the left underwing radiator and fuselage. Here, Lt Böhm is in trouble as he passes the village of Elham, near Canterbury: too low to bale out, he is already selecting a mid flap setting in preparation for a crash landing. The puff of smoke behind Sgt Mould's Spitfire shows his engine is backfiring as he throttles back hard to avoid overshooting the 109. He will get one further burst in before Böhm completes a copybook forced landing in a rough field near Bladbean. He is taken PoW - the first Me 109 pilot to be brought down on British soil during the Second World War. Böhm was lucky: the storm cloud in the background of the painting serves to remind us that 'Adler Tag' - the official start of the Battle of Britain - is only 2 days away and many other aircrew will be swept away in the storm.
The aircraft markings are authentic, as is the damage done to the fuselage and left wing by .303 fire from the Spitfire. The aircraft carried a shield marking on the rear fuselage showing a bespectacled and weeping crow carrying an umbrella under its wing. The words at the bottom of this crest, written in red and too small to read here, are 'Gott strafe England' - a resurrection of the phrase 'May God Punish England' used during the First World War in German propaganda seeking to blame Britain for 'starting the war'.
The painting was sold by commission.