As the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings approaches, thoughts turn to those who lost their lives fighting to liberate the people of occupied Europe, and to the families left behind to mourn. Norwich-based author Juliet Webster scarcely knew her father when he boarded a ship bound for Normandy, but has been able to form a vivid picture of his short life through an extraordinary portfolio of sketches and paintings made by the young artillery officer whose final resting place is the British Military Cemetery at Tilly-sur-Seulles.
In 2016, Juliet curated an exhibition of her father’s sketchbooks and paintings at Norwich Cathedral, and Norfolk publisher Mascot Media turned the art of Julian Cory-Wright into a book written by Alan Marshall and Juliet Webster – based on her research, letters, diaries and official records. Captain Cory-Wright died just two months short of his 28th birthday when Juliet was two years old. He was a gifted artist, recording people and places encountered from his schooldays through office life and military training to his ill-fated departure from Tilbury Docks.
From Norfolk to Normandy: the wartime art of Captain Julian Cory-Wright RA charts his journey from the unspoilt coast of north-west Norfolk where he spent much of his youth to the more hostile shoreline of northern France. His remarkable portfolio of paintings, drawings and prints depicts soldiers training and at rest, as well as scenes on board the liberty ship Fort Biloxi bound for Normandy.
Letters to his parents and wife paint a moving picture of a young man enduring stoically the long years of military training while longing for action. Sadly, Julian survived for just a few days following the landing in Normandy, killed by enemy mortar fire while acting as Forward Observation Officer on a recce for an observation post to be used by his artillery unit.
The tin trunk containing his personal possessions was returned to his family towards the end of 1944. It contained, among other things, his paint box and brushes, and the books of sketches he made before and during that fateful voyage to Normandy. The dumper truck he drew being loaded on board the Fort Biloxi at Tilbury may never have made it on to the beaches of Normandy (it was washed overboard during violent storms), but his sketch books got there and back to Brancaster.
From Norfolk to Normandy not only provides a poignant showcase for a talent lost to war, but shares this personal testimony with a wider audience. Bittern Books is now able to offer copies at a special price of £14.99 (UK cover price £25) with usual trade discounts.
The Wartime Art of Captain Julian Cory-Wright RA
| Author | Alan Marshall, Juliet Webster |
| Format: | Hardcover |
| Dimensions: | 24.7cm x 17.6cm |
| Pages: | 160 |
| Publisher: | Mascot Media |
| ISBN: | 9780995465121 |
| Year: | 2016 |
| RRP: | Original price was: £25.00.£14.99Current price is: £14.99. |
