James Field's Furious Camels

A painting by my late father, James Field. He was an artist and illustrator with a passion for history. Below is the accompanying text he wrote at the time:

Highly Commended by Cross and Cockade International at the 2013 GAvA annual exhibition in the Mall Galleries, London

After the second Flight deck was added, which failed to solve the problem of landing on board, HMS Furious was used for anti-Zeppelin work in the North Sea. In July1918 seven Sopwith Camels took off from Furious in the early hours to bomb the Zeppelin sheds at Tondern with some success as two Zeppelins were destroyed, but one pilot was lost. The painting shows three of the Tondern Raid Sopwith 2F1 Camels flying over HMS Furious, the nearest was flown by Captain B A Smart.

The 2F1 variant of the famous Sopwith Camel had a slightly shorter wingspan, one of the Vickers machine guns replaced by an over wing Lewis but most significantly was the fuselage behind the cockpit which was detachable and contained
flotation gear.

Original Painting Info:
MEDIUM: Acrylic on canvas board
SIZE: 510x410mm (20.00x16.00ins)