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Lincolnshire-born former Mayor of Walsall, Richard Worrall (and Walsall resident since 1970!), has brokered an exciting exhibition of his late father's wartime paintings at the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas.
 
E.J. ("Jack") Worrall, ARCA, 1897 - 1972, served in the Great War where he was captured at his machine gun post, became a PoW, and managed to escape.  In the Second World War, he joined the Home Guard and became a war artist who, in 1943 and 1944, painted a series of 22 watercolours depicting war damage in Grimsby, and war-related activity in the docks.  He was an art teacher in Grimsby for most of his career.  18 of these watercolours are in the collection of NE Lincolnshire Council, and the remaining 4 are in the Imperial War Museum's collection in London.
 
Explained son Richard, former mayor of Walsall:  "Last year at Remembrance time, NE Linconshire Council staged a highly successful and popular exhbition of my father's work, when I saw these pictures for the first time.  They are a powerful and beautifully-executed artistic record of the devastation wreaked on this East Coast port by the Luftwaffe, and a sad and stark reminder of the destruction we human beings can and do inflict upon each other."
 
"Earlier this year, I contacted NE Lincolnshire Council to see whether they might be interested in talking to the National Memorial Arboretum about loaning out the pictures for an exhibition at the NMA.  At the same time, I asked the NMA if they might be interested.  Both sides were receptive and can-do, they came to an agreement, and the paintings have been exhibited in the main reception area of the NMA since the beginning of last week." 
 
The 18 watercolours are being exhibited till 1st December in the first instance, but this may be extended.  The initial response from members of the public has been very positive, and among the first visitors to see the paintings was a coach-load of Walsall pensioners organised by Walsall Pensioners' Convention, who went to the NMA for the Armistice Day service on 11 November, and who were thrilled to be able to see the pictures.