Norman Wilkinson (1878 – 1971)was a British artist who usually worked in oils, watercolors and drypoint. He was primarily a marine painter, but he was also an illustrator, poster artist, and wartime camoufleur. Wilkinson invented "
Dazzle Painting" to protect merchant shipping during World War I.
The LMS (London, Midland and Scottish Railway) at War Series, c.1939–1945The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railways into four.
The resulting company was an unwieldy construction, with numerous interests other than railway operation. Besides being the world's largest transport organisation, it was also the largest commercial enterprise in the British Empire and the UK's second largest employer, after the Post Office. The LMS also claimed to be the largest joint stock organisation in the world.
In 1938, the LMS operated 6,870 miles (11,056 km) of railway (excluding its lines in Northern Ireland), but its profitability was generally disappointing, with a rate of return of only 2.7%. Under the Transport Act 1947, along with the other members of the "Big Four" British railway companies (GWR, LNER and SR), the LMS was nationalised on 1 January 1948, becoming part of the state-owned British Railways.LMS Express Train Being Bombed near Bletchley, October 1940
Blitz on an LMS Marshalling Yard near Willesden, September 1940
LMS Steamer SS 'Duke of York' and Other Ships under Fire
Built at Harland and Wolff, Belfast and completed in 1935, the Duke of York was a steamer passenger ship designed to operate as a passenger ferry on the Heysham to Belfast.
The Duke of York was requisitioned in 1942 for war service. She was renamed as HMS Duke of Wellington as there was a battleship with the name "Duke of York". She was converted to a "Landing Ship, Infantry (Hand-Hoisting)" the latter part referred to her hand operated davits; abbreviated to LSI(H).Launch of 'TSS Duke of York', Queen's Island, Belfast (LMS poster artwork), 1935
The conversions allowed her to carry 250 troops and ten Landing Craft Assault to carry the troops to shore. She also received a 12-pounder gun and eight 20 mm anti-aircraft cannon.
She took part in Operation Jubilee, the raid on Dieppe on 19 August 1942, carrying The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada.
She took part in the Normandy landings in 1944. At the end of the War, she transported troops between Tilbury and Ostend.Sinking of the LMS Steamer SS 'Scotia' off Dunkirk
TSS Scotia was a twin screw steamer passenger vessel operated by the London and North Western Railway from 1921 to 1923, and the LMS from 1923 to 1940.
On 1 June 1940 she was bombed by German aircraft during the Dunkirk evacuation. The destroyer HMS Esk came alongside and rescued nearly 1,000 troops. The destroyer HMS Worcester was nearby and also picked up some survivors. Twenty eight of the crew and 200 - 300 French troops were killed.artuk.org - Norman Wilkinson
