Norman Partridge
Norman tells us
how he developed his painting.
"I got about half a dozen
different photos
of the damage done
in different parts of Croydon.
And I assembled them all together
and started to do rough sketches
and then started to paint.
I suppose it took me
about three months to finish it.
I had to be very careful
to get all the details right,
especially the uniforms.
I wanted to include
all the emergency services
- the ARP, the land army, the police,
the YMCA mobile canteens,
and the children who had been evacuated
but who had come back to Croydon
when it seemed safe.
The houses in the background
were like the ones flybombed
on Brigstock Road,
which was just round the corner from us.
They were completely destroyed."