Front Line University

This striking work depicts the ruins of a building, likely in Dover, destroyed by German long-range cross-channel artillery following the D-Day landings. Thanks to 'Operation Fortitude South', the Germans believed a large invasion would be launched directly across the Channel from Dover, leading them to continue bombarding Dover and the surrounding Kent coast, nicknamed 'Hellfire Corner'.

The fractured, geometric composition captures the aftermath of the destruction. The rooms of the building are exposed, floorboards broken and doors and windows hang from their hinges. The bright colours of the interior decoration juxtapose with the muted colours of the outside world, creating the impression of an open wound.

A. J. Hamilton

Little is known about A. J. Hamilton as an artist. Based in Kent and a member of the British military during the Second World War, Hamilton was clearly a talented painter, capturing the destruction of the German bombings in a visual style strongly rooted in the British Mid-Century Modernist movement.

The back of the canvas shows his unique Army Service Number 4756374, his rank of Sergeant Instructor and A. E. C. standing for the Army Educational Corps, a group formed in 1920 and responsible for providing education, combat intelligence instruction and vocational training to British soldiers.