Roland Vivian Pithchforth, born in 1895, was a professional British artist whose main forte seems to have been watercolours. During World War he became an official war artist employed by the Ministry of Information - and then later for the Admiralty - under the aegis of the War Artists’ Advisory Committee. He was at one time a temporary captain in the Royal Marines.
In the early months of his appointment he painted coastal boats in action and travelled on convoys to the Azores and Gibraltar with a general commission to observe the activity of the Royal Navy in and around the Mediterranean from 1940 to 1944.
Towards the end of the war Pitchforth was sent out to the Far East. On his way to Rangoon Pitchforth was asked to paint camouflage on amphibious craft to minimise the threat of airborne attack. It proved highly effective and it would seem that he may have been responsible for at least some of the ‘dazzle’ designs used to disguise the hulls of ships during the war.
Gibraltar Harbour with escort ships going to sea
The airport crossing: with Spanish workers returning to Spain
Convoy leaving Gibraltar
Listening Post at Spyglass
Examination Station at Rosia Bay
HMS Berkeley Castle at Gibraltar
Rosia Bay Divers
Diver coming up after inspecting the bottom of a ship
The Rock of Gibraltar
Painting Ship numbers on an escort vessel