The Boats were Machine-Gunned

Richard Ernst Eurich 1903 - 1992

Summary

Factual scene of two warplanes attacking a group of vulnerable British sailing boats. During world war two the artist worked as an offical war artist to the admiralty. A German sea-plane strafes 2 sail boats with machine-gun fire in the foreground, small white patches can be seen where the bullets strike the calm waters. A 2nd plane (possibly a Ju 88) dives through the sky towards the sail boats in the background. Bodies are visible lying in the bottom of the nearest boat. There is a pale sun behind clouds in the top left corner, which is illuminating the far left section of the sea. The sea is a dark grey whereas in contrast the sky is bright, and is depicted in white tones, with some dark patches representing smoke from machine fire.