Lot 86: ADOLPHUS GEORGE BROOMFIELD, O.S.A., R.C.A.GERMAN 1/2 TRACK TROOP CARRIER GETTING READY FOR WINTER AT EINDHOVEN, HOLLAND, 1944, oil on canvas, laid down on board 16 ins x 21 ins; 40 cms x 52.5 cms Exhibited: 71st Annual Exhibition, Ontario

ADOLPHUS GEORGE BROOMFIELD, O.S.A., R.C.A.GERMAN 1/2 TRACK TROOP CARRIER GETTING READY FOR WINTER AT EINDHOVEN, HOLLAND, 1944, oil on canvas, laid down on board 16 ins x 21 ins; 40 cms x 52.5 cms $3,000-4,000Exhibited: 71st Annual Exhibition, Ontario Society of Artists, Wartime Section, 1943.Note: After becoming a commissioned officer, rather than applying for war artist accreditation and lose his posting to Europe, George Broomfield sought and received special permission to paint and sketch in the field of operations during the war. Broomfield was one of three RCAF members that arrived in Caen, France after the German evacuation and witnessed the devastation first-hand. The painter survived lengthy bombing raids at Eindhoven as well as multiple "close calls" from sniper fire while sketching. Broomfield's artwork from the second world war stretches from 1941 to 1945, providing a visual record of events in Normandy, Holland, Belgium and Germany. George Broomfield was awarded the 1939/45 Star, the France and Germany Star and the Defense Medal, CVSM & Clasp. In 1965, the artist gifted 35 war drawings to the National Gallery of Canada which are now in the collection of the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.