German Troops

Shelling of German Troops in WWll

Watercolour - Signed and dated

Image Area: 9.5 x 7ins - Framed: 16ins x 14ins

Many people today realise that the German troops also suffered appalling loss of life but in 1943 when Norman painted the Shelling of German Troops they were the enemy. The painting shows the agony on the faces of the German soldiers as they came under fire and probably Norman was trying to convey that.

This is possibly a reflection from the years of conflict of the Spanish Civil War when the two fighting factions were of the same nationality and to a young man that concept would have been difficult to comprehend. Later in his life Norman would research the history of the English Civil War

Many of Norman's wartime drawings and paintings that he produced whilst teaching at Margaret Street in Birmingham and later whilst working on the farm remained in his possession during the war and it was only after he took up painting full time following his retirement from teaching that he started to sell his work, much of which is now in private collections although some is in the permanent collection of the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery