John Hamilton MC (1919–1993) was a British army officer and artist.

Early life and military career

John Hamilton was born in England in 1919 and was educated at Bradfield College. Throughout

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

as a member of the Queen’s Royal Regiment. As a junior officer at the age of 24, he received the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

for gallantry during active operations against the enemy. Following his army service, he began a business career and settled in 1961 on the island of

Tresco Tresco may refer to: * Tresco, Elizabeth Bay, a historic residence in New South Wales, Australia * Tresco, Isles of Scilly, an island off Cornwall, England, United Kingdom * Tresco, Victoria, a town in Victoria, Australia * a nickname referring to ...

in the

Isles of Scilly The Isles of Scilly (; kw, Syllan, ', or ) is an archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, is the most southerly point in Britain, being over further south than the most southerly point of the ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, where he sketched and painted for relaxation. In 1972, after a bout with

angina Angina, also known as angina pectoris, is chest pain or pressure, usually caused by ischemia, insufficient blood flow to the Cardiac muscle, heart muscle (myocardium). It is most commonly a symptom of coronary artery disease. Angina is typical ...

, he sold his business and began painting on a full-time basis.

Career as an artist

He began by selling his work to tourists, who visited the

in the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

, specializing at first in painting the local topography, seascapes, traditional ships, and boats. Increasingly interested in the naval battles of World War II, in 1972 he began to paint a series of historical paintings on the War in the Atlantic, undertaking extensive archival research in London, Washington, and Stuttgart, and interviewing survivors. After seven years of work, he completed this 84-painting series at the end of 1978. Through the generosity of several shipping companies and the HMS ''Belfast'' Trust, his series of paintings is now in the collection of the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

, London, on board the museum ship . On the completion of the Atlantic series, Hamilton started work on a new series of paintings on the War in the Pacific, widening his archival researches and interviewing to Canberra and Tokyo with extensive research work at the Naval Historical Center in Washington, D.C. With the help of foundations in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, Hamilton completed more than 120 paintings in five years. This collection is now part of the U.S. Navy Art Collection. 176 of the total 204 paintings in the two series were published in Hamilton’s book ''War at Sea, 1939–1945''. After completing his work on World War II, Hamilton turned to the more recent

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...

and a study of the uses of the

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

during that conflict. This project required three visits to the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...

and four years to produce 46 paintings. In his 70s, he developed an interest in the Antarctic and spent two winters there on board , painting the scenery and doing historical paintings of Sir

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of ...

’s expedition using the evidence of surviving buildings, in addition to research, to recreate historical scenes. In this work, he became a key figure in inspiring the organisation of the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust.

Published works

* ''Country capers: short stories and verses'' (1979) * ''War at sea, 1939–1945'' (1986) * ''Sketching with a pencil: for those who are just beginning'' (1989) * ''The Helicopter Story of The Falklands Campaign'' (1991) * ''Sketching at home: for those who are just beginning'' (1991) * ''The complete sketching book'' (1996)

External links

*
Bio with links to images of paintings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, John British artists 1919 births 1993 deaths People educated at Bradfield College Queen's Royal Regiment officers Recipients of the Military Cross British Army personnel of World War II